Racing Spirits
by SpiritFoxx
Summary: Armada. Jade Nevaeh was a new girl at school. Trisha 'Mouse' Allen was the hellion that took her under her wing. Jade needed a new car and Trish needed an excuse to skip class. Need I say more? rated for language and violence.
1. New Cars

This is a round robin (story that goes back and forth between two people in which one person writes a paragraph, or entry, and sends it to the next, the next person writing a paragraph based off the previous paragraph or a completely unrelated one (depends on person) and sending it back) between my friend Armadillo (nicknamed for safety and she likes armadillos) and myself, Foxx, who is posting this. We sincerely hope you enjoy reading this! I will try to post pictures for the characters on my home page. Any likeness or resemblence to actual people (or the pictures being from a different game/anime/show/etc) is purely accidental. Any kinds of reviews are welcome, flames, ideas, etc. We enjoy hearing from you the readers! Anyway, on with the story!

Armadillo: KOOONIIICHHIII WAAAA, PEOPLE!

Foxx::Sweatdrops:: Japanese for hello.

Armadillo: Who are we talking to exactly?

Foxx: The audience, honey...the audience. - -'

Armadillo: Oh ::looks blank for a few moments then looks at Foxx with concern:: You're letting them read our round robin?

Foxx:::nods slowly::

Armadillo: Oh... :::falls over twitching and foaming at the mouth when Optimus walks in::

Optimus Prime: Is she gonna be okay?

Foxx: Since when have any of us been okay ::kicks friend in the side gently:: Hey, dumbass, get up.

Armadillo::still foaming and twitching at the mouth::

Foxx: - -' Okay, fine, I'll have Hotshot introduce the chapter.

Hotshot: Huh? Oh... ::holds up sign::

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"Hey, Nevaeh, stop being such a stuck-up little bitch!" The girl stared off numbly as some of the school-yard jerks pushed her violently around until she fell to the ground, slowly pushing herself up. One yanked her bag away and her eyes widened. "Whoa, look, it's a picture of some faggot!" Jason–the gangleader–held up a silver frame of a handsome man in Marine uniform. _Dad... give him back..._ _Dad...!_ She stared at the dirt, though, unmoving as tears came to her eyes. "I think I'll go throw this piece of crap into the dumpster. Beat the snot out of this bitch if she moves." Off he went. _DADDY...!!_

"I think not, Jason," Trisha, Daleton High School's very own rebel, said, taking the picture out of the boy's hands before swinging around, foot planting into the side of his face and sending him to the ground. "Get out of here, leave this kid alone." She picked up the discarded backpack and held both out to the girl. "They have no right to treat people like that. Stupid pricks." rolling her eyes, she sat there, waiting for the girl to take the proffered items.

Jason sat up, spitting out some blood and rubbing his cheek and snarling, "Damn you... don't think I'll forget this, you goddamn cunt!" He was already running as fast as he could as his bitches–err, friends–raced after to protect his flank. Silently, Jade reached up, not lifting her head, and took the picture frame, hugging it to her chest silently before standing, taking the bag, before she reached out and offered a five dollar bill, as if as a silent condolence for the trouble.

"..." Trish remained wisely silent when Jason uttered his death words then cocked an eyebrow at the girl. "Nah, keep it. It's entirely unnecessary. Come on, let me get you lunch–you look like you could use it. You're the new kid, right? Jade Nevaeh, right?" she asked, walking past the girl before looking back. She'd seen the roster of new students when she was in Mill's office getting her ass chewed for fighting–again.

Jade didn't look up, only shaking her head and turning, starting to walk away. _Don't bother. Don't get close. Don't come near me... ...But what if... why would she... die? I don't think she would–but what if there was a car accident or she fell down the stairs and snapped her neck or... stop even trying to think of ways to excuse it. The point is you can't have friends. They only get hurt._

The girl's behavior was puzzling to say the least but Trish simply shook her head, thinking it was the effect of word spreading rather quickly through the school about her 'bad girl' persona. Sighing, she walked right past the cafeteria to her next class–Geography. Wonderful...Tryon still wanted to cut her tongue out for her smart aleck remark about the Geography globes and Mr. Carlson, the janitor. Quite frankly, the dude had had it out for her since Freshman year just because of the prank her brother pulled on him when he was in high school. Payback was definitely a dish best served to multiple targets.

Coming out of nowhere, Jade suddenly hooked a finger around one of Trish's to gain her attention, eyes still locked on the ground as she tugged her sleeve. "...I don't want to go to this class. The teacher tried to take Dad away." She choked on the last sentence and looked up at Trish beggingly, before realizing she'd made eye contact and quickly turned away, hugging the frame tightly.

A little more than confused but worried at the same time, Trish nodded, taking one look at the teacher's sign outside the door Jade had seemingly come from. "Tryon...yeah. I'm actually trying to avoid him too. Come on, I'll take ya to lunch." she gestured to the door, tugging the girl along gently by the sleeve. Or what she'd managed to grab of the sleeve, anyway.

"You're Trisha Allen, aren't you? People say bad stuff about you. But... I don't mind. People say bad stuff about me, too. So I know they lie. ...You're not going to _**die**_, are you?" She asked suddenly, eyes locking onto Trish's in alarm and horror.

"...N-No...I don't _think_ so, anyway. Look, if it'll make you feel better, we'll walk to Bertie's Café, okay? It's not too far from here. Are you okay?" Trish looked worriedly at the girl, shaking her head slightly before hitching the tan knapsack she carried on her shoulder again. "Yeah...People do lie." she turned her gaze away from the girl momentarily, a cold expression crossing them before it disappeared. "Best not to listen to them, right? Where'd you move from, anyway?"

"...Alaska. We had this really nice house there that Dad designed and built–he wanted to be an architect after retired–but then Dad recently died and Mom didn't want to stay in that house. She said it hurt too much to stay. So I'm sorry if I seem freaky, but... I'm still trying to get over Dad's death–I guess I'm just a bit paranoid. So, how old are you?"

"'Salright," Trish said, nodding. "You're lucky you got to know your dad. You really loved him, I suppose. Mine ran off when I was 5, stupid asshole. I'm 17. How old are you?" they crossed the street and into the square, right across from a quaint little shop with a fading paint sign with the words 'Bertie's Café' in bold bright blue print on the wall above the door and front windows.

"I'm four!" Jade said, smiling for the first time. Seeing the confused look and raised eyebrow, she paused. "I was born on leap year." she explained, "Dad always told me I was special and 'not to act your age'." She laughed cheerfully, then paused, "...Is it really right for me to be happy right now...? Ruby and Talc are still expecting Dad to come home–they open the door every day expecting to see him–hah, but oh, well. I guess he would've hated me like this. Just... don't tell anyone." She grinned faintly.

"Sounds like my brother," Trish commented with a small laugh herself at the age comment. She nodded knowingly when the girl said not to tell anyone, "My lips are sealed," she said, smiling back at her before looking both ways and crossing the street to the shop. The interior of the building was as quaint as the outside, cozy tables for two set on the scratched hardwood floors and several booths nostalgic of the sixties set along two of the far walls. An aging woman with silver gray hair perched on a stool behind the long bar, seemingly asleep. "Afternoon, Michelle," Trish said, the woman snapping to attention with something akin to a pig's snort as she wiped drool from her chin. "Trish! What're you doing out this early? Skippin' again?" "Two words–Tryon's Class." This seemed to answer the woman's question as she nodded and looked over the both of them. "Brought a new friend, I see."

"Good evening, ma'am. Jade Nevaeh, at your service." Jade pulled into a crisp, perfect Marine salute, then relaxed, smiling and ignoring Trish's weird look. Suddenly she paused, looking at a car dealership across the street, "...Wanna go there, next?" She asked, pointing slightly, "Mom said I need a car."

"Okay, relax, soldier, you don't have to be so formal around us. Yeah, sure we can go there next. I have to get a new wheel for my bike, anyway. Wouldn't hurt to take a look at the newest they've got, either." Trish inwardly smirked, this was going to be a great day. She could stop by her favorite shop in town to eat-Bertie's-and go to the car dealership–her home away from home–after that. Man, this kid was gonna be a wonderful friend.

"Then, naturally, after I look at the cars I'm gonna have to tune into that new anime that's gonna start showing tonight." Jade added. Things just got even better, Trish decided. "Haha–but I'd probably bore you with anime, wouldn't I? ...Hm. What to try–what's good here?" Jade asked.

"Kid, I have a feeling this is the beginning of a long and very good relationship," Trish said, smiling as she looked up at the menu. "Hmm...the cheeseburgers aren't _too_ bad but I prefer the chicken myself. PB & J's pretty good too." she smirked at Michelle, who stuck her tongue out at the teen, causing her to burst out laughing. "Don't listen to her," Michelle said, scowling, "Anything ya like, hun, I'll do my best to make it good."

"Oooh–you have curley fries... Curly-fries, please, ma'am!" was the perky reply–so far, Jade liked Trish and Jade liked Michelle. Screw all those other bastards.

"Curly-fries, and the norm, Trish?" Michelle asked, getting up off her stool as Trish's laughter finally seceded a little. She nodded, walking to a small booth at the back of the room. This was her normal booth–the one she almost always sat in when she came to Bertie's. "That anime's at 7, right? The one about the asnine elf dude with weird hair and his bright orange talking cat, right? That looked funny." Trish laughed, falling into one side of the booth as the ancient material made a funny noise like someone farting.

In roughly an hour of talking about anime, laughing at Michelle's cussing, and all sorts of chaos later, Jade was going through the old broken down cars, investigating them and mumbling to herself, such as "Ford–crappy–this one's engine is PATOOHY..." She turned to Steve, the balding fat guy in the work apron sitting there, "You got anything... abnormal?" She waved a hundred dollar bill around innocently. "Well–there was this one truck–but I don't think you want some weird semi. It was found completely trashed and broken down in the middle of the mountains nearby." He said. "Did it come with a trailer?" She asked. "Yes–" Two hundred dollars wagged, "Oh, my, what if I accidentally drop two hundred more dollars down with the payment? Oh, dear–show me the truck." She got an evil look, fingers steepled. "...Right this way." he pocketed the bribe.

Trish cocked an eyebrow at Jade's rather peculiar antics but let out a laugh, turning to the dark haired older man wearing mechanic's rags that was watching with her. "Mike, I'm gonna leave my stuff here, kay?" she asked, dropping the bike wheel and her knapsack by one of the tool boxes laying around. Mike nodded, laughing as he went back to work on a yellow sports car he'd been working on for close to a week now. "Strange workings," Mike commented, pointing to the car as Trish laughed, jogging after Jade and the fat guy known by normal folk as Steve but to people that knew him "Fatso". (Blurr would more than likely call him 'the Fat One' but SHHH, we haven't met him yet).

"Whoa, this thing's HUGE." Jade noted, blinking at the semi. The body and paint-job were fairly descent but when she popped open the hood and looked under the carriage. "Phew–this baby'll need some work to get going again." She noted, running her hands over the curve of the hood, "...SOLD!!" She said cheerfully. _Hehehe, mom's gonna SHIT._

"Trisha Anna Marie Allen, what in the HELL are you doin' out of school?" rang through the body shop, Trish stopping and turning from inspecting the semi with Jade and Fatso. Her brother, Adrian, sat there, hand on his hip as he looked down at her darkly through his sunglasses. Several tense seconds past then Trish broke out in a smile as he said, "Meh, that's my girl." he walked over, wrapping an arm around her neck as she protested, giving her a noogie before releasing her, she smacking him with a scowl before fixing her hair. "What the hell are you doing here, anyway?" she shot back at him. "Picking up _my_ new car that_ you_ aren't going to touch," he said, walking up to the semi before flicking his sunglasses down on his nose to inspect the engine. "Needs some work. You a friend of Trish's?" Trish nodded. "Heh, we can fix it. Right Trish?" Trish rolled her eyes. "You're an airhead, Adrian."

"No need." Jade rolled up her sleeves and crawled up, her lower half dangling from under the hood, "Both my grandparents on my dad's side were truck drivers–met at a barfight in South Carolina, hehehe. I grew up around semis." Jade said, throwing back a hand, "Monkey wrench–hold the monkey!

**--Two weeks later--**

"Finished as far as I can tell–WHY DON'T YOU WORK!?" Jade asked herself irately, glaring at the semi–she'd done everything she could think of to do, but it wouldn't start! Ugh...! This was irritating! She went to kick the wheel before something stopped her and paused–she... she couldn't bring herself to kick it! What the hell! This was a TRUCK, not a person, so she shouldn't feel guilty. She checked the ignition again, tried to start it–nothing. She paused, staring at the strange symbol that was in several places. Some cheap-wad car dealership brand that was unheard of in today's world? ...Probably. She reaching out and spun the coin-like thing on the wheel, sighing.

"Maybe it needs gas," Adrian threw out, leaning against the fence post outside their hangout place. Trish growled, wheeling out from under the truck. "It's FULL," Jade growled at him, Trish chucking a wrench back at her tool box. "Damn thing...there's nothing I can find wrong with it down below. The brakes look fine, everything checks out...so why the bloody hell won't you work?" she asked, standing with her hands on her hips, greasy rag dangling from the back pocket of her work overall shorts. It was summer weather, leading to shorts and tank tops and warm weather clothes, and sweating profusely after dinking with a tempermental semi that simply refused to work. "GRR...I'm beginning to think this was a waste of money, Jade," she said quietly, tossing the rag back on the pile with the others. Her brother, leaning against the post, was completely clean.

"There HAS to be something we missed!" Jade put a hand on the grill–which suddenly pushed out with a hiss as steam came out–she fell over with a yelp as it lowered, revealing a strange golden panel with a rainbow of shimmering lights surrounding a blue jewel. "...Wow, now that's some shiznit bling." She blinked. She reached out and pulled it out, looking at it curiously, "Wonder what this is–this is new." She shrugged and put it aside, grabbing the closest tools and starting to remove the panel behind it, pulling it off, "WEIRD!! There's this giant glowing ball of light, come check it out!!"

"What the fuck...?" Trish said, stepping forward and looking at the light. "Adrian...you might wanna see this..." she called, the older man stepping forward, looking over her shoulder before his mouth dropped to the floor. "What the hell...?" he commented, all three blinking in confusion. "O-okay...I'm officially freaked out. Did you figure out what was wrong with your car, A?" Trish asked, walking back to Adrian's yellow sports car which had simply refused to start working as well. "No...I don't know what the hell's wrong with it. Stupid thing...almost as tempermental as that bastard," he said, pointing to the semi behind him. In that instant, it suddenly roared to life, his eyes going wide before he looked back at it. "Holy shit...whad I do?" "Nothin, I thought..." Trish blinked, poking around the yellow car again. "Weird..."

Jade, meanwhile, had crawled in almost to the light, only her legs sticking out as she used her most delicate tools. "This thing... seems out of place... maybe if I stick it back in..." She told herself, gently pushing it into place before crawling out and replacing everything. She tried the ignition again–nothing. "Ugh..." She began walking away when the sound of an engine revving weakly sounded and she turned. The lights flickered weakly and then went out. Jade was reminded–freakishly–of someone fighting to wake up after having been asleep for a long time. "...This is getting WEIRD." She noted.

Trish clambered into the driver's seat, much to the protests of Adrian, who started for her, reaching for the key. However, before her hand had gotten so much as an inch away from it, the car squealed, peeling out of the driveway and down the gravel road, the door slamming shut as Trish screamed, Adrian racing after her for a good quarter of the way down the driveway before watching with a confused and rather terrified expression. "She's gonna kill it...just like all the other ones...okay, where'd she put those keys..." he went after her knapsack, looking for the keys to her motorcycle. However, the keys were in her pocket, where she'd thoughtfully stowed them before this car decided to come alive of its own accord and kidnap her.

Jade slowly approached again, looking ready to dive behind the closest tree (oblivious to the other situation nearby . ') as the headlights flashed again. "...Who the hell are you?!" She asked, expecting some creep to come barreling out with a gun, trying to look fierce and unshaken. Her reply–the truck CHANGED and STOOD UP. "...I am Optimus Prime, leader of the Autobots!" rang out. Jade gaped, stared, and promptly turned to stare at the closest tree, expecting it to get up and start dancing. "...That's it. I-I... I'm off sugar." She told herself, smacking her face, before she looked back, "...WHAT ANIME DID YOU POP OUTTA?!" She asked. "...Anime?" was the confused reply. "ADRIAN!! OMIGOD!! THE SEMI TURNED INTO A GIANT-ASS ROBOT!! TRISH!!" She screamed suddenly, and Optimus flailed his hands in alarm, "Wait, wait–don't–" Too late.

Adrian, hearing the younger teenager's screams, looked up, blinking at where the semi _had _been then to where the large oversized robot _thing_ stood now. He looked over at the fence, blinking before walking over and leaning over it, counting how many beer cans littered the ground. 2–and 1 of them had been Trish's. "Okay...TRISH! what the HELL'D you DO to me THIS time?!" he yelled, not expecting her to answer as she'd run off with his brand new car. Well, that was, until she was sent flying into him as the car screeched to a halt, the seat ejecting her screaming form from the car before it too transformed. "Optimus!"

"...OH MY FUCKING GOD, THERE ARE TWO OF THEM!! ...Adrian, my giant-ass robot is SO much cooler than YOUR giant-ass robot." Jade added after a moment, smirking in his direction, "Not to mention so... yellow and... chipper."

"..." Adrian looked at the two of them then back at the beer cans. "Okay, did I like get oober drunk before coming out here or what?" Trish, who had stopped screaming finally, was in all out laughter on the ground beside him. "HOLY SHIT THAT WAS AWESOME!!! I wanna do it AGAIN! DUDE!!! AGAIN AGAIN AGAIN!!!" she cackled maniacally, as though she were a monkey on crack.

"...Oh, yeah, sorry 'bout that." Hotshot rubbed the back of his head, "The name's Hotshot. I'm an AutoBot serving under Optimus. How'd we... get here...?" He asked. "...Well, apparently some guys found you trashed nearby–you weren't working at all–and then Adrian bought you and I bought the big lug over there and we... repaired you." Jade shrugged, "I'm Jade Nevaeh–this is my best friend Trisha Allen and her older brother Adrian." She seemed a little lost, "Commander–so you're like military?" She asked–nod. Immediately Jade pulled into a sudden, crisp salute, "Sir, my apologies, sir! Had I known I would have shown my respect earlier, sir!" She announced. "...At ease, soldier." Optimus' left optic narrowed, as if he was raising an eyebrow, and she relaxed, hands clasping behind her back.

"I still swear I'm drunk..." Adrian commented with a sigh, lugging Trish, who was foaming and drooling at the mouth from the speed rush (she's a speed demon, what can I say?) and smacked her upside the head, knocking some sense back into her finally. "So...you're some hot shot commander and his lackey, right?" Adrian finally said, Trish staring up at the two in complete awe. "Oh my god...Salem...did you put kitty litter in my tea again this morning?!" she called to the black cat perched on one of the fence post. It meowed, leaping down off the post and sauntering to the two Transformers, twining around their legs and purring contentedly. "Strange cat, I swear..."

"...Adrian, show your respect or I will personally make you scrub the block–ah, I sound like my father! I'm becoming my father! ...I was so busy trying not to be like my mom I didn't see this coming!" Jade grabbed her face. "Whatever you say, short-shit." Adrian said dryly–then shut up as she drew to her full height–which was about roughly two heads shorter than him, and about a head and a half taller than Trish. "I'm not short, I'm vertically challenged–and that means I can do THIS!!" She lashed out and punched him in the nuts, "Hook, line, and sinker." She dusted her hands off as he let out a strange high-pitched noise and crumpled to the ground. "...I love you." Trish said blandly. Optimus and Hotshot exchanged looks–Hotshot's optic twitched. "W-Well, thanks for the repairs, b-but we gotta go meet up with the others–" He began, before Jade hit him in the leg with a monkey wrench. "OW!! OWOWOWOW!! What was that for?!" he yelled. "Don't judge a person by their straightjacket, damn it! I'm only acting like this because Trish brought Oreo pie and I ate over three fourths!!" She pointed. "You still didn't have to hit me!" Hotshot yelled. "CHILDREN!" Trish exclaimed only to be completely ignored by the arguing pair. "I can't help it if you practically say HIT ME and have a 'my other car is your mom' bumper sticker on your ass!" Jade pointed. Hotshot turned to look–and, indeed, it was true. "...Oh brother." His optics went flat.

Taking one look at the bumper then casting a dark gaze down at her brother, Trish said in a deathly grave voice "I sooooo disown you." Then she turned back to Hotshot. "Okay, you, big car guy that suddenly kidnapped me out of god only knows what reason. Who are you and why are you here? And he-ell no you're not going to be going ANYWHERE if I can't help it because god-damn it I spent 2 god-damn weeks working on your ass so by dod I'm sure as hell gonna get your help whether you want to or not!" she said in a demanding tone. Hotshot blinked, looking down at her then up to Optimus. "You're kidding, right?" he asked, looking back down at her. "No, I am NOT by fucking dod kidding you! I need your ass to race in the upcoming street finals. It won't be for pinks, though I highly doubt if it was that you'd really care–you'd run off anyway–but you've got speed and that's what I need for the race." Adrian, recovered from his plight(well, mostly anyway), sat up and blanched. "Hell no. You're not racing again."

"...Hahaha, I'll start selling custom t-shirts for the Yellow Mouse! Hahahaha! I like it, it's like CHA-CHA-CHIIIIIING. It's pretty much saying 'LIGHTNING FAST, HWUAH..." Jade said, then shrugged, "Note to self, stay off sugar." She said. "Yeaah..." Trish said. "Go ahead, Hotshot–it does seem to be that we owe these kids–" Optimus began. A nerve twitched in Jade's forehead and her eyebrow followed suit as she turned to look at him, "...What the FUCK did you just call us?" She asked. "Kids?" was the confused reply. "Listen here, buddy, if I was a KID, I'd still be running around in the school playground going 'mommy, look at me! Gimme my lollipop! Ef you, bitch!' with band-aids on my knees as I burned all things pink that my relatives bought me while poking frogs to death with sticks! AM! I! DOING! ANY! OF! THAT! SIR?!" Jade yelled. "No, ma'am." Optimus said. "Now that we're on the same wavelength–just call Trish and me teenagers and we'll call it even. Adrian–I don't give a fuck what you call HIM." She waved a hand and ignored the glare in protest.

"And you gave a shit before?" Trish commented dryly, Adrian standing and putting himself between her and Hotshot. "You're not racing and that's final," he ground out, she glaring at him. "You're not my master," she hissed, Salem clawing his way up to her shoulders and hissing at him as well. "I didn't say that, Mouse, but you're not racing. You remember what happened last time you raced?" The others looked curiously at the two of them, Trish and Adrian staring each other down. Things had gotten deathly serious in the span of a few short minutes. "No? You were in the hospital for 3 months, 2 weeks fighting for your life and another 9 in the critical care unit! I'm not letting you race, not again. We've already lost Mom, I'm not gonna lose you too." Trish spun around, Salem calming some as she walked back towards the fence post. "I'm not Mom." with that, she walked back to the barn settled on their hideaway grounds.

"...SOO, anybody up for a wax job? You look a little scuffed from where I hit you with that wrench."

"Hey, Trish, I talked to Adrian and he said you couldn't race me." Hotshot scratched his temple later that day as Optimus was in semi mode as Jade was cussing and trying to buff out a scratch on his door, "I think I understand what he's getting at–nearly losing someone." He said. "Yadda-yadda. Soap opera fluff. If she can't race YOU, don't you have someone else she can race with? Her pride's on the line, here." Jade snapped irately as she looked over her shoulder. "Well..." Hotshot hesitated. "I don't know if it would be a good idea, considering the fuss." Optimus said. "Sir, would you or your men crash and hurt girls like Trish?" Jade somehow miraculously kept a straight face. "No–we would DEFINITELY let no harm come to ANY humans–" Optimus began. "There you go! So if it's one of your men and it can't be Hotshot, we're set. Besides–what Adrian don't know won't hurt him. I hate to say it, but I've got a plan up my sleeve..." She steepled her fingers, smirking.

"No, I can find my own car. It's no big deal. Hell, I'm sure they'd let me race Genesis if I had no other vehicle." Genesis was her motorcycle, thoughtfully named when she'd bought it after the video game character from Dirge of Cerberus. She was going to name it Weiss but Adrian stopped her there. "Do I really want to know what you're planning?" she asked, sticking a spoonful of Reeses Peanut Butter Cup Ice Cream in her mouth and blinking at her friend from where she perched on the outdoor bar.

"The race is here in Daleton tomorrow, right...? I thought so. I'll just see what I can do." Optimus said.

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Jade barreled out of Optimus and ran to Adrian, huffing and looking mortified, jelly splattered on her face and clothes to look like blood, "Adrian! Adrian, quick! I-It's horrible! We ignored you and went to the race in Riverdale City and it was doing great until some jackass blindsided the car and... and..." She turned pale, eyes wide. After ten minutes of freaking out and for the details, Adrian lunged into Hotshot and sped away. "Heheh... Sucker." Jade pulled off the dirty shirt to reveal a clean tank top underneath. "You've got no shame." Optimus said. "NOPE. You got your end ready?" She asked, walking up to the empty house that Trish was waiting in. "Yes–I see him coming." Optimus said. Jade knocked, "Your chariot has arrived, milady. Optimus has personally chosen for you... SIR BLURR!! ...Hey, I rhymed, what a crime. AH, I'm a poet, who'd a known it?! Hahaha–come on!" She pulled her out to the silver vehicle. "Optimus, do I HAVE to do this?" Blurr growled. "I owe the girls–just do this and it'll be over with. Besides–it was either you or Sideswipe, and I didn't want you to think Sideswipe was faster." Jade could almost imagine the ego twinging. "...You made the right choice, sir." He said. "Careful–he gets a bad case of road rage." Optimus said in a low tone to Trish, "and he's a little... faster than you'd think." he said. "You mean... medium speeds of 120 MPH?!" Jade asked eagerly. "What an insult. 160 MPH." Blur snapped. "...Oh dear god. We're so screwed." Trish said. "Are you kidding!? Just sit back and watch the blurs that USED to be the competition fly by!" Jade said cheerfully.

Crawling into the driver's side, Trish looked out the window at her friends, mumbled a quick thank you, and grabbed the steering wheel. "Okay, two rules. One, I'm in control. If you think I'm gonna wreck, you can take over but until that happens, and it won't, I'm in charge. Two, no talking, changing or going FASTER than 200–if we do, they'll think I did something to rig the races, right? Okay, let's just hope you're as fast as they say..." she mumbled, stepping on the gas and cruising to the race sight. "We'll see about that," Blurr growled low, not used to feeling someone messing with his controls.

At the race sight, the other racers looked up as Jade jumped down out of Optimus' cab. "Nice wheels, MUTE BITCH." Jason sneered. Jade's eyebrows rose as she paused, "What, you jealous that I've got a bigger truck than your little midget car? Hahaha." She said–he gaped. "That's right–I CAN TALK. I just don't talk to people I don't like–but I've made a special exception for you." She got a saucy flirtacious little smile, "See you at the finish line when you get there. I'll be waiting." She said in a low tone, smirking faintly. And, like so many fool teenage boys, he smirked, reaching into his pocket to quickly flash a small package–her eyebrows rose. _Hahaha–sucker, going right into the palm of my hand. REVENGE IS MINE. _

Trish parked Blurr just off the starting line, patting the hood gently before circling around. "Now, be a good boy and put on a good show," she murmured under her breath, sitting on the hood waiting for the race to start. "You in this too, cunt?" Jason growled, getting up rather close to Trish. This proved to be a rather bad idea. Blurr revved the engine and moved toward the boy, he jumping back. "My car's protective of me. What can I say? Oh," she sauntered over, getting him close to one of the brick walls of the buildings lining the street they were to race down under the pretenses that she was going to make out with him. Quick as lightning, she grabbed him by the neck and rammed him into the wall, getting in his face as she spat, "Call me a cunt one more time and I will rip your balls off and feed them to you on ice cream, comprende?" she growled, Blurr trying not to laugh. "See you at the finish line," she said in a sickeningly sweet tone, releasing him and he fell to the floor, gasping for breath. "RACERS, TO YOUR POSITIONS!" "That's our cue, big guy," Trish said, climbing into the driver's side as Blurr headed towards the starting line. She pulled the sunglasses she wore on her head down over her eyes. "Don't let me down..."

Jade watched irately as some pretty-brat Barbie chick walked forward in a bikini, her eye twitching. "...And you called me shameless." She mumbled to Optimus, who only chuckled. "On your marks... get set..." The engines began to rev. "GO!!"

The flag fell, the four racers taking off like a bullet. 0 to 60 in two seconds flat was nothing for these guys. 0 to 80 in ONE second was NOTHING to Blurr. However, Trish's foot tapping the brake gently kept him in check, he keeping to just behind the first guy then, a mere 200 feet from the finish line, she slammed the accelerator, Blurr taking off like a bullet and zooming past the referees, going to the end of the street before skidding to a halt. "Holy shit..." Trish said, trying to catch her breath. "You are AWESOME!" she squealed, hugging the steering column. "Thank you thank you THANK YOU!!" "Yeah, yeah, just stop groping me!" Blurr growled, she smiling as she stepped out and cooly put the sunglasses back up onto her head. "Holy shit! That was AMAZING!" came a resounding chorus from the audience. "We DID it!" she squealed, hugging Jade when she found the two of them. "Thank you for allowing me to borrow him," Trish said to Optimus in a low voice so none could hear her but them.

"Ha–don't worry. The moment Blurr heard the words 'street racing' he was keen to go. I think you may have gotten him addicted to it." Optimus paused as Jade walked over towards an alley, waving, "...What's she–oh." He said, as Jason and his friend followed after. Jade turned in the alley. "I brought a friend. Hope you don't mind." Jason sneered. "Oh, no. Not at all. I made an exception for him, too." Jade smiled charmingly, reaching up and gripping her first button–before she paused. "Oh, but this is my first time... help?" She gave them that 'ooh, come on come get the virgin' look. They practically tackled her and she waited until some clothes were disappearing.

"RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAPE!!" rang out above the sirens as the police rushed towards the scene, the racers having already cleared out.

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"I can't believe you got them charged with 1st degree rape. That's funny," Trish commented, smirking as she took a sip of hot tea, setting the paper down on the table. They were in Adrian and Trish's apartment, preparing for another race. "That was good. Have to admit, couldn'tve done it better myself." Jade smirked, "I was gonna beat the living snot out of him but I thought that was better suited for the occasion," she said, grinning evilly. "He deserved it. God only knows how many times he's more than likely got away with it. Hey, Optimus, Blurr ready to go?" Trish called out the window. She and Blurr had quite the reputation as street racers now, 'The Silver Mouse' being one of the highlights of the races. It was amazing how well Blurr had taken to racing with her. "We gotta go in like ten."

"...This is the last one, though." Jade said sadly, scratching her temple. "Why's it the last one?" Trish asked. "Because Optimus has to return to the Autobots and Blurr and Hotshot have to go with him. You had a good run, Trish." Jade shrugged, sighing.

"Hey, works for me. He's the one that wanted to keep racing. I was perfectly fine going back to racing bikes with Genesis. Hm...gonna really miss him." She sighed, almost choking on her tea when Adrian came down. From the look on his face, he wasn't too happy–though, he hadn't been since Jade had tricked him that first race. "Morning bro," she managed to cough, setting the tea down on the table as she casually hid the racing brochure stating the race's location and time under her backpack. "Just getting ready for school, hehe. What's up?" she sensed there was something wrong. "Nothing, Trish. Just get to school." his tone was brisk, as though he were impatient. What crawled up his ass and died?

As the two girls hurriedly rushed through the door, Trish grabbing her knapsack before the peel of Blurr's tires greeted his ears, Adrian sighed, putting a cup of coffee on the table in front of him. Hotshot bleeped at him from the driveway, they agreeing that the Transformers couldn't talk or transform in the city for the simple fact that someone might spot them. "Be there in a minute," he called, picking up the flyer for the race he'd gotten from one of his clients. He worked at a local tattoo parlor in his free time to pay the rent--money was tight and he needed every opportunity he could take to make it--and one of his clients, a burly man that got a strange symbol tattooed on his shoulder, had given it to him. _Damn it, Mouse, why do you do this?_ he thought to himself, getting up before tossing the brochure in the garbage as he walked out the door to deliver the packages his boss had given him.

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The next day, Jade was working on her NEW new car when she heard something behind her. "I'm looking for Optimus Prime." a snappy voice rang out. "Sorry, he ain't here anymore–" she began, then froze. WHO was asking for OPTIMUS!? Who knew...?! She turned and looked straight at a giant metal shin. Her head turned up to look at the dung-beetle-from-hell. "You see–he has something I want." Megatron sneered, before aiming the gun on his hip at her, "Tell me where he is–or pay the consequences." he said. "A-And if I don't know?" Trish and Adrian would be there in less than five minutes–she had to find some way to get out and warn them. "A pitiful shame for you, then, human." A flare of fuchsia energy formed in the cannon and erupted outwards.

"JADE! Look OUT!" Trish cried, racing through and grabbing the girl just in time. Genesis skidded to a halt before it reached the closed barn door. "Who the hell are you and what the hell do you want?" the gun aimed at her as well. "Optimus Prime," the huge robot growled. "Well, hell if we know–" this seemed to be the wrong answer as the cannon flared fuchsia and both girls screamed...

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Armadillo: Will Jade and Trish survive? Or will they be burned into piles of ASH?!

Foxx: Will Adrian make it in time to help the girls or will someone else help them? 0.

Hotshot::staring sadly at his bumper:: Oh brother...

Armadillo and Foxx::burst out in guilty laughter::

Foxx: IT WAS HER FAULT::points to Armadillo:: She's the one that wrote it!!!

Armadillo: It was funny, what can I say?

Optimus: - -' Stay tuned for the next chapter.

Foxx: Next...chapter? O.o

Armadillo::has gone missing - -'::

Foxx: I'll...um...be right back... ::dashes out screaming like a mad woman::


	2. Trial by Giant Friggin Robot Attack!

Armadillo: I'm back–it's me, I've returned from the Land of the British--see insert end of chap.--(LOL). And I hereby change my name, because Foxx named me and I'm not too fond of it–though Armadillos I do like–I shall now be... OKAMI!!!

Foxx: - -' Sorry. You weren't here to tell me what you wanted to be called so P. Anyway, GUESS WHAT! WE UPDATED! It's been a while, yes, but we did update. So you can shoot us now. Let's see...where did we leave off again?

Megatron: I was about to blow the humans' foolish mortal bodies to pieces and laugh maniacally as they are rendered to more than ashes and Prime cries over the useless loss of life?

Optimus: T.T Asshole. And to think–we're brothers in the new movie.

Okami::Eyebrow twitches:: CHILDREN, GOD. Pay attention, we're trying to introduce a chapter here. Now, fair warning–this one's gonna be a little darker than the other... Gory stuff, mwuahahahahaha... ::Purrs at the thought of blood:: Unfortunately–we haven't gotten too gory yet, though. _**Yet**_

Foxx:::eye twitches::: you're weird...and to think I call you my friend...

Okami: Damn right you do.

Foxx: ANYWAY, on with the chapter, shall we? BLURR! Get your sorry ass in here, _**NOW**_!

Blurr: Do I have to?

Foxx: Yes, you have to.

Blurr:::Holds up sign::: Chapter 2: Trail by Giant-Friggin'-Robot-Attack

The girls were pinned down in a barn with a hostile giant alien robot ready to kill them. If there had been any way to escape, it was gone now. Jade was starting to wonder if this was the end of her premature life as that giant cannon on the monster's hip began to glow from the gathered energy. Then, the proud child of a soldier squared her shoulders–and burst into tears. "Don't kill us, oh please, don't kill us. I'm only four, come on! Let me live to sweet sixteen! Oh, god, please! Have mercy in your tin-coated heart–wait, do you have a heart? Aw, hell, who cares–just don't kill us! I can show you where to find the President of the United States, come on, I'm not worth the waste of ammo!!"

Trish blinked, looking over at her friend. "Have I EVER told you how strange you are?" she asked then forgot the question as the robot seemed to look down at them questioningly. Turning Genesis back up with the monster distracted by her friend, Trish revved the engine and yanked Jade onto the back of the motorbike and peeled out, the fuchsia blast barely missing the back tire as they burst through the barn door and raced away into freedom.

Jade wiped the well-conjured tears from her eyes as the giant raced after, preparing another blast and giving him a one-finger salute with both hands, "CATCH US, BITCH!! THEN WE'LL JUST TELL YOU WE DON'T FUCKING KNOW AGAIN!!" She yelled, suddenly wishing she had a hand grenade... But, some things can't be helped, so she just settled for using both one-finger salutes to pull down her lower eyelids and she stuck out her tongue. "INSECTS!!" The giant creep roared, firing.

"YOU'RE THE ONE THAT LOOKS LIKE A BEETLE!!!" Trish yelled back, whooping then weaving the motorcycle out of the way of the blast. "GAH! That was a close one!" On the way, they passed her disgruntled brother, completely ignorant of the situation, who looked up then waved as they passed before going back to dinking with the radio station. _God, Adrian, you're such a dumbass sometimes..._Trish thought to herself, looking back fleetingly to see him drive right between the monster's giant legs. Of course, he was running after them so by the time Adrian actually stopped to see what it was he'd just seen, they had disappeared over a hill. "Man, I gotta lay off the Budweiser...first talking cars then giant metal robots shooting at my sister...jeez..." with that, he drove to what remained of the barn.

Suddenly a red, black, and silver jet whipped overhead, before it spun around and seemed to point at the giant. "The army has come to save us!" Jade gasped in relief–then the jet turned into another robot, "Lord Megatron!" It said. "...Oh, shit." Jade's face went perfectly bland with a trace of irritation, "They're breeding."At that point, she looked over her friend's shoulder to see a tank had cut them off. "SHIIIIIIIIIIIIIIT!!" She screamed, catching Trish's attention to what was in front of them.

Trish took in the situation, biting her bottom lip before getting a large grin across her face. She drove directly at the tank until the last possible instant, swerving left and around. Before it could transform and come after them, they were already around them, zooming off again down the road. Meanwhile, back down the road at the barn, Adrian found that he in fact was _not_ dreaming or drunk. The barn was toast, both Jade _and_ his new cars totaled beyond recognition. His was smoking from the hood, the engine splattered like brains across the wall behind it. "TRISH!!!! YOU'RE DEAD!!!" he yelled, leaping back into his beat up jalopy and racing out after her.

At that moment, back at the chase, it all went to hell. Something collided–fast–with the back tire, and sent it spinning. Both girls were flung off bodily as a black sports car transformed into another robot. Jade pushed herself up onto all fours, shuddering. "We have them now. Capture them and let's see how the Autobots will enjoy our little... execution." Megatron sneered. "SIR?" The jet repeated. "I was going to spare them before, but they sealed their own fates. Nobody smart-mouths Megatron." The beetle said. Jade snorted, "You... must be deaf... then." She said, fighting to her knees. "WHAT...?! How dare you, you wretched filth!" Megatron said. Jade stopped for a moment. Leg hurt. Arm hurt. But okay! She got to her feet, "_**I**_ was the one who worked on Optimus Prime." She said defiantly, before she took off running. "GET HER!!"

Trish rolled, feeling the bones in her shoulders crack and break as she hit the ground. Genesis skidded to a halt not far from her, she fighting to get to her feet. Jade took off running, several of the robot things taking off after her. "Shit..." she growled. She glared at the one by her. "Well guess what? I helped." She smirked at the remaining ones, flipped them a double handed, single finger salute before leaping to Genesis again, kicking it to life and leapt on, ignoring the pain in her shoulders. Her adrenaline was pumping as she took off in the direction of Jade's path again, slowing some to let the girl jump on.

Jade looked over at her friend, smiled–and ran the other way, back TOWARDS the startled robots. The jet dove violently, but she threw herself to the ground and rolled aside, right down a hill, cussing as she skidded to a halt at the bottom. She pushed herself up again, wiping blood from a gash above her left eye and trying to get up. Something in the dull ache of her hip told her that it had been dislocated and would need to be forced back into place before she did anything else. Sitting up, she grabbed hold and began to do so, remembering everything her dad had told her about dislocated joints. The pain increased violently, there was a grinding sound, then the pain dulled as she forced herself to her feet again, coughing as she fought for air. "Damn... I gave... a good run..." Jade was fast. She was on the track team in her own hometown, despite her small size and big attitude. Jade gritted her teeth and tried forward again, but collapsed. Tears sprang to her eyes as her fingers gripped the soil, "Damn... it... all to... hell..."

"Jade, you numskull, what the HELL are you DOING?!" Trish wondered aloud as she sped up to avoid the black jet divebombing her from above. The black sports car tried to ram her aside again but she dodged it this time. This had to have been the most exercise she'd gotten in a LONG time. The pain in her shoulders had become something of a dull throb, nothing more than Trish was used to from racing. _Kid, I hope you know what you're doing..._ she thought as she zoomed down the street. The momentary distraction proved nearly fatal. The black sports car jabbed the back wheel again, sending the motorcycle out of control. Trish flew off it again, this time landing hands first. She felt the bones of her wrists snap as she tucked and rolled again, Genesis skidding along the cement again as she came to land, the pain in her shoulders returning with a painful crack of bones. If they had merely been cracked before, there were definitely broken bones now.

Just when Jade was about to bargain something–anything–for her friend's life, a sudden welcome roar of an engine blasted above her on the highway and her eyes lifted. She wiped the blood and sweat aside, and suddenly she grinned. "OPTIMUS, MY MAAAAAAAAAN!! You're so TOTALLY appreciated right now!" She yelled, then watched as Hotshot, Blurr, and several other vehicles she didn't recognize went by, a SPACE-FRICKIN-SHUTTLE going by in the air above. "Get a taste of the Swiper–" A blue, silver, and yellow one that seemed like a kid tackled the tank–who shrugged him off like a fly before the bulldozer–well, dozed–the tank over.

Adrian slammed on the brakes, skidding to a halt as he saw this onslaught of vehicle robots waging war in front of him. Several skidded past him in their fighting, nearly catching the front of his car. He saw Optimus and Hotshot, as well as Blurr–the three he knew from before–but he didn't recognize the others. Starting the old vehicle again, he drove past them in search of Trish. He'd heard her motorcycle–it was hard not too–going into the clashing demons but didn't hear it now. Barely side stepping a large metal foot, he spotted the scratched bike laying dejectedly on the pavement, Trish's almost lifeless body not far from it. Trish didn't move–at least, for a little bit–then when she did, she let out a cry of pain. She was covered in cuts and scrapes, moving stiffly as though she had broken bones as well. She didn't put weight on her wrists, rolling to her side and attempting to sit.

Jade was furiously army-crawling her way up the hill, face set grimly before she hauled herself up–barely in time to topple back down to dodge another laser. But that gave her the momentum she needed to roll to her feet. Damien Nevaeh had been proud of his children. He'd signed them up for every sport and activity that he could, and he practiced with them, even let them kick his butt a few times. Jade had been in gymnastics, track, and she'd practiced martial arts. She was quite capable of working her body around pressure (and no, that's not a risque remark, you dirty minded reader-people!). The momentum of the blast sent her back down the hill, giving her the speed she needed to flip and land on her feet, skidding down and falling to her knees as she halted. But that was good enough–she launched herself to her feet again and started back up the hill, towards where she'd last seen Trish. "Make Daddy proud, make Daddy proud..." She muttered to herself as she always did during strenuous tasks.

"Trish! Oh god, Trish!" Trish's consciousness swam in and out–she was tough but she couldn't hold out much longer. Though it was not as painful as her car accident, she was a hurting unit. She barely made out her older brother's outline through half-lidded eyes as she tried to force herself to her feet. "Adrian...? What're you doing out here? It's too dangerous..."she tried to tell him but the words came out at barely a whisper. She coughed, struggling to put weight on her wrists. They protested but she finally got to her knees. She had to keep going. Jade and the others were in trouble. "Trish, we've got to get you out of here. Come on," Adrian tried to pull her into the car but she fought back. "Not until we find Jade," she said, stumbling in the direction she'd seen Jade go. Adrian caught her and forced her into the car. "Stay here, I'll find her," he said, racing into the battlefield of the alien people.

Optimus was grappling with Megatron, neither of them able to get the upper hand as they pushed and shoved each other. "Give up, Prime!" Megatron spat out the name, as if it were a disgrace on his tongue. "Never...!" Optimus grunted as he heaved. That's when a rock nailed Megatron in the temple, startling him long enough to get tossed aside. Jade looked over at Adrian as he picked up another rock–and promptly applauded. "Children, get out of here!" Optimus said–deadpan look from Jade. He sighed in aggravation, "JADE and child, get out of here!" He yelled. Deadpan look from both of them. "He/I is/am not my/her child." was the chorus. "JUST GO!!" Optimus yelled, blocking a cannon blast from Megatron. "...Y'know, I'm feeling rebellious. How's Trish?" Jade asked.

Adrian was saved from having to reply when Trish appeared behind him, picking up a rock as well and pitching it at Megatron's head. "I'm feeling...fine," she said with a wince as tossed it. "Thanks to the ambulance dude over there, I'm feeling GREAT!" there was biting sarcasm in her voice but she smiled none the less. "So, how's about we kick some big evil guy ASS, shall we?!" she asked, picking up more rocks and gathering them at her feet. Pulling a slingshot from her back pocket, she took careful aim and let it fly. It hit Megatron right in the optic.

"INSEEEECTS!!" Megatron roared, aiming his hip cannon. His optic was scuffed, but he could see just fine. The blast formed, and fired before any Autobot could even think to do something to stop him. "NOOOO!!" Prime shouted, but the blast erupted out and enveloped all three humans with a startled cry. Then it faded and they were... perfectly intact? "...What the slag?" Megatron asked–and fired another blast, JUST to make sure his optic wasn't so badly scuffed as he thought. Again it came out and struck them–and when it faded, at the last moment of the blast, he sensed it. "...One of those whelps is capable of altering energon!" He said–he knew some TRANSFORMERS could do it, but that was rare. But humans–HUMANS?! What mockery was THIS?! But which one...? He had to separate them and try to kill them all separately. One out of three chance he was going to be right–the other two chances would just be fun for obliteration. "How are we still frickin' alive?" Jade asked after a moment, looking over, confused.

"Dunno but this is FRIGGIN AWESOME!!" Adrian shouted, picking up rocks and sticks and whatever else he could find to throw at the large evil robots. Trish slingshotted several more rocks at Megatron then picked up the rest, running towards the other battles to barrage the other robots. "Have to play fair, now!" she said, equally flinging rocks at all of the Decepticons. One found the black sports car's back side, several found the squid-like one's temples and optics. One had even found its way up the red jet's armor, lodging in one of his joints so he couldn't move one of his knees for a few moments before it was crushed. "Grr...BRUTES!!" she screamed at them before finding more ammo.

Jade suddenly sunk down to her knees and pitched face-forward before she got up on all fours, "That was... AHH!" She grabbed her head as her eyes went blank. Any good sci-fi geek would've known a mental attack when they'd see one, and this was clearly one of those. Voices began to rush through her head, telling her it was her father's fault–to kill, kill, kill... "NOOO!!" She shouted and grabbed her hair violently, covering her ears, "NOO, NOO, SHUT UP, SHUT UP!!" She screamed–the two sides suddenly separated. Because no one had spoken. "The human's defecting." A helicopter noted with a giggle–before the space-shuttle socked his nose for good measure. "NO!! NO!!" Her fingers gripped tighter as tears ran down her face.

"...Jade?" Trish asked, stopping her onslaught of the robots. She slunk back towards her friend, staying a good few feet away. "...Jade, honey, are you all right...?" _Of course she's not stupid, she's flailing around like a friggin' dying fish out of water, ya moron!_ She thought to herself as she slowly inched closer. "Jade..."

A purple, yellow, and black transformer flickered into Jade's mind. _Submit to your instincts. Kill them all. Kill the Autobots. Kill the Decepticons. Kill the humans... Kill them! NOW!!_ She screamed and slammed her palms onto the ground before symbols formed on the back of her palms, and a force of air slammed outwards, rippling the stone ground and shattering trees and stones in its path, "SHUT UP!! NO MORE!! NO MORE... DIIIIIIIIIIIE!!" She grabbed her head as the blast erupted outwards, then it suddenly stopped as her eyes widened and she choked. "D-Da... Daddy...!" She sobbed suddenly, like an ashamed child, "Oh, god, help me! End it, end it! Make it stop! END IT!!" She screamed.

Trish was knocked back into Adrian, both being caught by Autobots as they flew past. All of the transformers fell to their knees or behinds, floored by the power that suddenly erupted from Jade. "WHAT THE FUCK IS HAPPENING TO HER!" Trish screamed at Optimus, the one who'd caught her. He didn't speak, watching the human with wide optics.

"...Such power. If we could use it..." The squid-head's chest clenched with excitement, his very Spark flickering eagerly, "Lord Megatron! We should capture the Energon-user! She must be weakened by that outburst–_**this is our chance!**_" He called. "Yes, Thrust, I do believe you're right." Megatron knew Prime couldn't throw the other girl aside to save this one–and he knew it. "No, no–NO!!" Optimus shouted, starting to put Trish down. "VICTORY IS MIIIIIIIIIIIIINE!!" suddenly rang out as a blur of silver, red, and orange erupted from the clouds, swept past the teenager, and when it was gone, so was she. Jetfire righted himself mid-air, Jade in his palm, "BWUAHAHA!! Better luck next time, MEGA-DOG!! AHAHAHAHA!!" He waved before he landed besides Optimus, "Shall we do this?" He asked. "Yes, let's combine." Optimus said, and in moments Jet Optimus was before Megatron, daring him to try anything. "Slag..." Megatron looked at his men, still battered from the fight and that wretched human's blast, then looked back, "RETREAT, MEN!!" He shouted wisely before they ran like the sissies they all were truly at heart.

Trish scrambled over the ground to Jade, "Jade, Jade...speak to me. Tell me you're alive at least. Jade...come on...please..."

"Is my hot dog ready, yet?" was the dazed reply as Jade sat up, rubbing her head, "Did they give me no toppings? Damn them–I distinctly said no ketchup..." She groaned, then shook her head, "Oh... hi, Optimus, when you'd get here?" She blinked. Silence. "...Whoo-ee, she got banged up hard." Jetfire said, after he and Optimus had separated.

Trish let out a sigh, looking at the teen. "You have got to be the strangest person I have ever met. You're even stranger than that dumbass," she pointed to her brother. Adrian let out a 'hey!' of indignance but she flipped him the bird, shutting him up. "Anyway, I could really go for a bubble bath right now. How bout you?"

"I was thinking a nice, cold shower followed by a really HOT one." As Jade stood, shaking her head, she looked at the others, "I know you and you, but who the bloody hell are you and you and you and you... and you?" She asked. "I'm Jetfire, Optimus's Deputy Commander." Jetfire's arms crossed, "You owe me big-time–YEOW!!" She'd just kicked him in the shin. "I owe nobody–if you risked your life saving me it's your own damn fault." Jade said. "I'm Red Alert." The medic said. "I'm Sideswipe!" The kid said cheerfully. "You mean 'the Swiper'?" Adrian asked–the little guy seemed to flush with embarrassment and sidle behind Hotshot, who laughed. "I'm Smokescreen!" The silver and blue steam shovel said. "Scavenger." The bulldozer rumbled, glowering at the three teenagers in an attempt to scare them. "...Pheh." Trish snorted. Adrian, however, sidled behind his sister's short best friend and crouched almost to his knees–she kicked backwards and caught him in the nuts, smiling sweetly the whole time. "OOF!!" Adrian fell over sideways, eyes crossed and clutching himself.

Trish rolled her eyes–her brother was definitely not the brightest crayon in the box. "I'm Trish, to all y'all that don't know me, and the crouching dumbass over there is Adrian, my brother." She walked past the pair to the beat up jalopy, thoroughly blasted to bits by one of the blasts. Genesis lay not far from it, a little scratched up but perfectly intact. "I'm going back towards home so see y'all around, maybe..." she threw out. "Oh, and Red Alert was it? Thanks for patchin' me up. I appreciate it."

"We hope to see you again–we've heard all about you three!" Sideswipe said cheerfully, waving her off. Adrian seemed to be silent for a moment, then paused, "Who's gonna drive me home?" He asked suddenly (AN: Tribute to Bumblebee, there XD). "Walk." Jade said blandly. "WHAT?! Are you NUTS, it's like SIX miles!" Adrian whined. "My house is twenty and I'm jogging–shut your lazy ass up." Jade said blandly, shrugging and starting away. Optimus stepped forward and transformed, his door popping open. Jade shrugged, grinning, and got in–the door shut just as Adrian had been about to get in. "...Oh, gee, shows who your favorite is." was the bland comment, then he turned and suddenly gave Hotshot a look, "I'm your owner–you do what I say!" He said, hands on his hips firmly. At the look he received, it stopped, "Okay, I was joking–_**please**_?"

Everyone finally home, Trish soaked in the bubble bath. Her shoulders and wrists were still throbbing dully but she pushed it aside, the water feeling great to her aching bones. Leaning her head back, she dozed for a while. The door to the bathroom burst open and she screamed, picking up the pan she'd brought with her for protection. Adrian stood there in his boxers, tired as hell then he looked at her. "Oh...sorry sis." he turned around and walked back out just as the pan hit the door, effectively denting but shutting it on him. "I said I was sorry! Jeez!" Trish returned to her bubble bath, grinning.

Jade didn't do much before going to bed, honestly. She took a shower and pulled on a pair of fuzzy p-js–she had an odd fondness–before toppling over face-first into the bed. Ruby and Talc–her 4 and 5 year old siblings–ran in. "SISSY!! SISSY!! SISSY!!" GLOMP. A groan escaped the pillow. "I love you, sissy! Make me a sandwich!" Talc shouted. "I love you more than him! Play Pretty-Pretty Princess with me!" Ruby shouted–she pushed herself up onto all fours, turned her eyes slowly to them, and scowled. "MEEP!!" They both fled the room and Jade laughed quietly to herself as she flopped back over, and passed out in seconds.

-----The Next Morning-----

Trish drug her butt out of bed, blinking tiredly. She'd been woken by a strange rumbling outside their apartment. Rubbing her eyes, she looked out her window to see the silver, red and orange transformer Jetfire in the apartment's front yard. Doing a double take, she went to the balcony. "WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING HERE?!" she hissed, looking down to see he was actually hovering, many of their landlord's precious flowers scorched and burning. She facepalmed then the Autobot answered her. "You're both coming with me!" he said a little too cheerfully. "Uh...let me think about that...I'm standing here in my pajamas and slippers talking to a giant alien robot hovering over my landlord's garden, thoroughly destroying it and he's telling me I'm going to be going somewhere with him...HELL NO!" she said. "And you'd better get away from there before someone else sees you–you're making a racket." With that, she was about to go back to bed when Genesis appeared outside her window. Well, held between the Autobot's large fingers, of course. "Come with me or I smash the motorcycle," he said. "You wouldn't dare..." seeing the intent in his optics, she gave up. "Let me get dressed..." she said, defeated. "ADRIAN! Get your sorry ass outta bed! We got company!"

"Sissy! I love you! I wanna pancake, too!" rang out the next morning. Jade's mom was at work and she was about to see the kids off to day care. She slammed down their plates, before she suddenly glomped them, "You're both so cuuuuute–I loooooove you!" She said, before she sat behind a HUGE novelty coffee mug–"COFFEECOFFEECOFFEECOFFEE" all over it, again and again and again in tiny black print, then in really big over-laying words it said "NO I'M NOT THE _**LEAST**_ BIT HYPER."–and took a drink–then sprayed it all over, seeing Sideswipe waving cheerfully outside her window. She got up, walked over, and promptly shut the curtains, going back to her coffee and sitting down, going for her chocolate-chip Eggos. And he was at the screen door. She promptly stood, walked over, and slammed that door in the Autobot's face. "Wait–Optimus sent me to get you!" was the whiny protest. "That's nice–you wait until breakfast and coffee are done and the kids are gone–otherwise you shut up and be a good little Autobot, all right?" She asked blandly–he innocently transformed into a car and sat–sideways–in the driveway. "Who was that, sissy?" Talc asked. "Just an idiot Sissy's friends with–eat your pancakes–come on, stuff those pudgy chipmunk cheeks, get your bag, and go." In a few minutes, the kids were gone and Jade took her time getting dressed into a one-piece grey dress, white sandals, and stepped outside with her coffee mug. "Are you ready?" The door popped open. "Nope." She took another swig. "But you're just standing–" Sideswipe began. "I'm drinking my coffee and you're ruining my concentration–shut up." was the reply–Sideswipe moaned.

"HOLY SHIT THERE'S A GIANT ASS ROBOT OUTSIDE OUR–" Trish smacked a hand upside her brother's head–he was even stupider in the mornings. "That's Jetfire, dumbass," she growled. It was 7 in the morning and sadly, she'd not had her coffee of the day yet–she was feeling rather bitchy. "Get dressed; we've got to get going." she stalked downstairs in a pair of ratty jeans and a tank top. Black sandals went on her feet as she made her way to the coffee maker. "God I hate mornings..." she groaned. Adrian, dressed in ratty shorts and a Rolling Stones tee plodded into the kitchen, throwing open the fridge, rummaging around for a bit then pulling out a brown long necked bottle. "You're going to ruin your liver that way," Trish pointed out. "Shuddup," he replied, popping the cap and taking a swig. "I have to have my beer in the morning like you have your coffee. And you don't see me taking that away from you." She deadpanned. "Because a. I haven't tried to take your precious poison from you and b. you know better." she finished the sentence with a pasted on smile, pouring a mug of coffee when the pot was done. On the side of the white cup in big black letters was "Property of Alcatraz Pyscho Ward: Out-Patient Use Only". She took a sip then set it on the counter, pulling down a metal bowl and a can of cat food. "Come on, Salem, breakfast." she plunked a bowl of catfood by the microwave, shuffling through the fridge for the milk as the cat skittered cheerfully into the room. Outside the small house, the shuttle outside getting rather antsy. "Shuddup, we're only human. We take a while to get functioning in the morning!" she yelled, stalking up the stairs. She returned, stuffing a rag in her back pocket and walking to the laundry room where they kept the car supplies. She grabbed a bottle of 'Scratch-Be-Gone' and stuck it in a knapsack along with a few more rags. "I'm taking Genesis," she said matter-of-factly. "Uh...no you aren't..." the shuttle outside looked confused. "Yes, I am." she grabbed her coffee on the way out then stalked down the several flights of stairs to the ground level, taking the motorcycle back. "Okay, Salem, be a good kitty while we're gone. You know where the litter box is and the remote's lying on the couch. Your favorite channel's on already so all you have to do is push the big button to turn it on." Kneeling, she picked up the cat, who meowed at her then she pecked his head, setting him back down again then standing. "**_NOW_** I am ready."

"Are you ready to go NOW?" Sideswipe whined as Jade was doing something that looked suspiciously like she was counting the blades of grass in her front yard. "No, no, this is very important... GAH, you made me lose count, now I have to start OVER!" She yelled. "MEEP." Sideswipe went silent, then she walked over and sat on his hood. "Drive like this–slow and stylish." She said blandly, and the young Autobot had no choice but to obey–she was willing to go, wasn't she?! So he obeyed, and she waved at all the old people tending their gardens like she was some kind've homecoming queen from hell, smiling before she made a gun with her finger and pretended to wipe them all out. Oddly enough, the townsfolk only smiled and waved–one little kid even pretended to get shot and flopped over. "...You are strange." Sideswipe said. "They're all my loyalists, now–this jerk thought he owned to cul-de-sac. He was three times my age, and, might I add, tried to come onto me, so I threw him out into the street and in front of where they were pouring cement." Horrified silence from the Autobot. "Oh, no, he didn't die. He just had to stand still while they chipped him loose for a few days." Jade shrugged. "Oh... well... I guess if he didn't get HURT..." Sideswipe faded. "Oh, I was tempted to hurt him, though. Only thing that saved him was a cop lives next door to me."

After several minutes of arguing, Jetfire finally gave in to Trish's demands of taking her motorcycle, he taking the terrified Adrian (he hates flying) with him. Trish followed him on the ground, both headed off to the base.

"Hi, Trish!" Naturally, due to all the circumstances, Jade arrived a whopping hour and a half after the others. "Sideswipe, you were supposed to bring her right back!" Blurr griped. "She wasn't cooperating...! The only way I was gonna get her to come earlier involved forcing her and Optimus told us not to do that...!" Sideswipe whined–Jetfire suddenly looked innocent. "Nope, I didn't forget that, no way." He said.

Trish glared at the shuttle blandly, keeping between him and Genesis. She was still rather perturbed by his methods of getting them there that morning. "Riiiight," she said dryly, "Forgot my ass." Adrian stared in wonder at all of the robots around them, blinking then looking at his beer bottle in hand. "Maybe I should stop drinking in the morning.." Trish rolled her eyes–he was hopeless. Without waiting to see why they were here in the first place, Trish began working out the scratches Genesis had gotten in the battle the previous night.

"As I'm sure you all have guessed, I have summoned you here to discuss the growing threat and potential of Jade's powers." Optimus said. "What powers?" Jade asked, then sneezed and several screens blew out of computers. "...Wow, that was a funky co-in-key-dink." She blinked. "...AS I WAS SAYING, we are going to have to find a way to get them under control so you are no longer a threat to yourself and others–" Optimus began. "I've always been a threat to others–don't even bother." Jade said blandly. Silence. "I mean, well... Jade, just work with me, here." He added. She shrugged. "I brought Adrian and Trish because they know you best, and you'll need all the support and assistance you can get. And besides, I need you all to swear that you will tell no one of the existence of us transformers–" Optimus began.

"Hello, CNN?" Adrian said jokingly, receiving glares from everyone. Trish remained blissfully ignorant, getting the scratches out of Genesis's paint. "Don't worry, neither I, nor my brother, are going to tell anyone," she said reassuringly. "Now, is that the only reason we're here or can I go home back to my bed again?" she asked, looking around at them.

"Well–" Hotshot had began, but they were cut off. "WHOA!! Look at the SWEET bike!" rang out, and a bunch of middle-schoolers crammed around it. One was a red-headed girl, a blond boy, a Hispanic boy, a tall lanky guy with squinty eyes, and a really fat one. "Morning, kids. You're early." Smokescreen said. "Uh-huh. We had nothing better to do and school was canceled today." The blond said. The lanky one noticed Trish and Jade, slicked back his hair, and put an arm around both of them, "Good morning, ladies... Are you angels, cuz I think you came from Heaven." Jade's eye twitched, then she grabbed his arm and threw him off bodily onto the ground, "Hell's Angels, hold the Harley and the gang membership. Sit down, shut up, and don't touch me again."

Trish blinked, "Thanks, Jade." She went back to Genesis, ignoring pretty much everything else. "Trish? An angel?" At that, Adrian burst out laughing. "Right, I agree with Jade there."

"I wonder if I could sneeze and blow the little creep up..." Jade said absently. "DON'T. EVEN. TRY. IT. JADE." Trish growled. "I wouldn't, I wouldn't! I'm not THAT horrifically violent!" She said. "Hi," The blond held out his hand, "I'm Rad. That's Alexis, Carlos, you threw Billy, and that's Fred." He said–Jade turned to find the tubby one staring at her in abject wonder, snot trailing from his nose, "You're _beautiful..._ Will you be my hero?" Jade's eye twitched and she backed away, "Uh..." If this had been an anime, one of the characteristic sweatdrops would be on her head. "W-Wanna cookie!?" He held up a package of half-melted oreos, "I sat on 'em, but they should be good!" Disturbed, Jade turned on her heel, walked over to Optimus, and began climbing up. A few stopped to look at this odd behavior, but when she'd seating on his shoulder, she shrugged–this was the furthest location from that creepy little chunkard down there...

Trish rolled her eyes. "I'm Trish. That weirdo that just scaled Mount Optimus is Jade and the dork over there is my brother, Adrian." the light blue haired older man smiled, waving at them. "Don't go corrupting the little kids now, Trish," he said. She rolled her eyes. "That's your job," she replied.

"All right, back to the matter at hand. I think we should begin testing right away, so we can put a level to Jade's abilities and begin work to get them under control. Does this sound good?" Optimus asked. "Am I gonna be probed?" Jade asked innocently. "Wha... NO, no, no! No probing." Optimus said quickly. He'd seen a couple alien movies that involved the process, and even if he wasn't made of organic material–they made him flinch. "Okay... Am I going to have surgery, then?" She asked. "No." Red Alert said. "Then how are you gonna test me!? Put down a piece of paper and a pen and hope my powers fill it out!?" Jade snorted. "We're going to do a series of energon scans. That'll help us figure out the extent of it. They'll be harmless, but they may take a while. A scan on a transformer can sometimes last up to three days–let's hope that you don't take so long, for your sake." Red Alert added. "Yeah, cuz probably after six hours I'd get fed up and walk out." was the bland reply. "That's why Adrian and Trish are here–to keep you occupied." Optimus pulled Jade from his shoulder and held her out, "Red Alert, I leave this in your hands." He said. "But he only has one...!" Jade whined, looking at the laser that was the other.

A Few Hours Later

"Are they probing you?" Adrian asked, and for the fifteenth time that day Trish facepalmed. "No, dipshit, they are NOT probing her. Besides, it's almost over already. What the hell are you doing?" she asked. Adrian had somehow managed to climb up onto one of the numerous large metal pieces of equipment and was poking it to see what it would do. "Seeing what this big thing will do!" he replied cheerfully. Trish shook her head. "I'm going to sit here laughing if you get sho–" she didn't even get to finish her sentence before something about the machine came to life and zapped Adrian, sending him flying off it. He coughed, sitting up. "THAT. WAS. SWEET!" he said, getting up and racing back to the machine, poking and prodding it again. "Who knew I had a dipshit for a brother?" Trish wondered aloud, shaking her head.

"Adrian! Don't do that–the equipment needs repairing." Red Alert picked him up and sat him on the ground, "It's for your own safety–too much of an electrical charge and your innards will fry." He missed the smartass remark from Trish as he turned back to Jade, who, despite being covered with testing equipment, had been asleep for the better part of four hours. Right–Red Alert corrected himself, seeing an eye open to judge the screen before closing, the kid's quite the actor... "The scan's been going on for almost eight hours, Red Alert! How much longer's it gonna take?" Hotshot griped–even the big guys were losing patience. "It's hard to assume, but I think that all humans who retain the ability to alter Energon have the ability to produce it inside their bodies, so it steadily increases. They're different from us–you have to remember that. They're going to have different abilities than a transformer." Red Alert said, voice tinged slightly with irritation, "Now would you stop wasting my time asking me about it–" Hotshot sulked but didn't speak up again. "ANYWAY," Jade said, sitting up, "It just said 'COMPLETE', so I'm taking these off."

"Thank god," Trish said, rolling her eyes then her shoulders, having been sitting in pretty well the same position for a good 3 hours. Instead of keeping Jade entertained, she'd practically babysat her brother the entire time. "Okay, are we free to go now? I have a feeling Spiky over there is gonna need medical attention before too long. I saw him going for an electrical socket earlier..." Sure enough, Adrian was about to poke a fork into one of the oversized electrical outlets, grinning like a madman on drugs. "Adrian! Put that fork DOWN!" Trish sighed. It would be a long night.

"Yes, you kids can go home until we're done going over the data received. We'll come and get you when we're done analyzing. Considering the amount of data, it should take a while. I'm hypothesizing sixteen hours." Red Alert said. "...You really need to talk normal." Jade said as she used Sideswipe's hand for an elevator to the ground floor. "Okay, Hotshot, you take Adrian home, and Sideswipe, take Jade home." Optimus said. "Uh... sure?" The rookie shrugged weakly–after all, taking her home had to be easier than picking her up. "There are a few stops I need to make on the way, come on, rookie, let's go." Jade said, leading him out.

Trish sighed, dragging her thoroughly shocked brother away from the socket he'd thoroughly fried himself on. "Ya know, any normal human would learn from their mistakes and not touch the electrical sockets again. Am I gonna have to get those safety plugs now?" she asked, Adrian twitching. "I can see I'm going to have to Adrian-proof the house again..." she said dryly. "Let's get you home, electricity junkie."

-------A few hours later------

Jade was sitting in her room, fast asleep, when suddenly she became aware of the bed bouncing. "Sissy! Sissy! Sissy! Sissy!" was the chorus. She rolled over, collared the little twerps, then cuddled up and went back to sleep.

"Okay, Hotshot, I think you can let him out now!" Trish called–she had Hotshot hold him hostage until she'd Adrian-proofed the house. Plugs in all the electrical sockets, the fridge locked, the toaster hidden under her bed, her room locked and all other electrical appliances locked up safely away. The silverware drawer was locked up as well. "I think the apartment's fully Adrian-proof now..."

Back at the Autobot base, Red Alert was going over the data. "So you're saying this thing can come from two sources?" Hotshot asked. "Yes–humans pass traits down through their gene pools, so that's a probable cause, and I think part of it has to do with coming in contact with a Transformer's spark. So the trait was there all along, and came into action when it was ignited by the energon in Prime's Spark. That's what I think." Red Alert said. "All this stuff is making my mainframe hurt... I'm going to go practice or something." Sideswipe walked out. "Kids..."

The second Adrian was in the house, he tried every electrical socket to no avail. Trish had plugged all of them, hiding all of the electronic devices somewhere–probably her room–but she forgot to do something about the light fixtures. Walking disgruntled back to his room, he grinned, stepping up onto the bed and unplugging the light. "Don't even think about it, Adrian! I had the power shut off!" Trish called from the kitchen, doing the best she could to cook with a gas stove. Salem meowed sadly, batting the button on the remote before meowing sadly again and jumping off the couch, twining through Trish's legs wanting attention.

Sideways was standing in a dark room with a curled-up human figure, wrapped in a dingy brown blanket. "You interfered. Why do you deny the Destroyer, mortal? He could stop your senseless degeneration of aging that all humans suffer." He said. "Immortality is not for me." The old man looked up, his scraggly white beard dirty with grime as ageless green eyes turned up, "And I shall not let you steal away any others and usurp their powers as you did mine. All that's left of hope in our world is the children, and your master shall not have them long as I live." He wheezed. "If you were not required, mortal, I would kill you for your insolence. Remember–you are but a demon wandering in a world of shadows. Sooner or later, either you will submit to darkness... or the light will fade you." Sideways turned and walked out, ignoring the filth that just spat on his foot.

A few hours later found Trish outside, watching the dark house before her from the open door of the garage she and Adrian shared with a few friends. "Adrian, you dork," Trish commented, rolling her eyes as she saw sparks faintly in one of the windows–he'd found a way to get power back on again. Sighing, knowing it was useless, she went back to dinking with Genesis's engine–it had acted up on the way home from the base and she was worried about it. She didn't think it had been damaged too badly in the battle but maybe it had and she just didn't notice. Salem purred as he nuzzled down in a black fuzzy fur blanket Trish had laid out for him. "Nice to know you're having a good time," she said with a faint smile before turning back to the bike.

"Sissy, is daddy coming home soon?" Ruby turned her green eyes up. "Er... Uh... yeah, any day now." Jade said, forcing a smile. She was good at hurting people. But she could NEVER do ANYTHING to hurt her precious little siblings. "Honey, can you get Talc's Gameboy to work?" Her mother called from where she lay on the EZ Boy, a wine glass in her fist. Elena Nevaeh had not taken the loss of her husband well, working and drinking and sleeping, leaving Talc and Ruby up to Jade, but Jade didn't mind. Her mother had once been a proud woman and was just going to need a little time to recover. Until then–let her rot her guts with cheap wine.

"What the hell...?" she wondered, blinking as she saw a faintly glowing light was dislodged from what seemed to be its proper place. She took hold of it and nudged it back into place, shaking her head. "Hm...whatever." with that, she went back to tampering with the engine, every once in a while pulling back to try to start the engine. It wouldn't work. Frowning, she shook her head and went back to work.

Foxx: YAY! We actually finished a chapter for once!! Well...twice! Hey, Okami...this is the longest running round robin we've done...well, other than that Kingdom Hearts one but we don't want to show the readers that one...0.0

Okami: Tell me about it. ::Puts on dramatic voice, sounding suspiciously like Optimus Prime:: What will happen next time? Will Jade's powers come under control? Was that suspicious light that Trish placed in a coincidence? Who was the mysterious old man challenging Sideways? Is Adrian going to kill himself with his new-found addiction? Will Talc and Ruby ever call Jade by her name? WILL I EVER STOP ASKING QUESTIONS?

Optimus: ...Are you done yet? And stop mocking my voice.

Okami: ...Presto! Pringles! Poof::Throws down a handful of glitter, and when it fades–she's still there.:: Damn it, it worked for my other friend... Curses!

Jetfire: I don't blackmail people like that::Optics flicking paranoidly::

Foxx: YES YOU DO!!

Jetfire: ...Err, no, I don't.

Sideswipe: What about that time when you tricked me into--

Jetfire: SHUT UP, YOU FOOL!!

Foxx:::cocks eyebrow at shuttle::: You simply amaze me... OH! Hey! I forgot!! CONTEST ALERT! CONTEST ALERT!! Anyone who can find _anything_ contradictory to the story gets a cookie. (And I've decided to be nice and make it 5 points instead of 1.)

Okami: At the end of every chapter we will throw in a bit of trivia!

ARMADA TRIVIA–1 point if answered right

NEW MOVIE TRIVIA–2 points if answered right

TRIVIA FROM THIS STORY–3 points if right.

First person to get 20 points gets to be a guest-star in a chapter!

Foxx: AND A COOKIE::is hyper from too much sugar and caffinated drinks - -'::

Okami: ...We will alert the first person to get this amount of points, and they will be given a small sheet to fill out so we will actually know what the hell to write about them with. TODAY'S QUESTION IS FROM TRANSFORMERS ARMADA:

WHAT IS JETFIRE'S _**PERSONAL MOTTO**_ ((Told in the Episode _**Mars**_))

...Suddenly...

Kitten: Presto! Pringles! POOF::appears in swirl of glitter::

Blurr: Damn fucking glitter! Oh no...not you again...

Kitten: Love ya hun::holds up evidence of Blurr from G1:: I also love blackmail.

Foxx: I'm suddenly curious... ::grabs evidence and looks through it, evil grin spreading:: OOOOOooo... I never knew _that_...

Okami::Looks through evidence, laughs insanely:: That's almost as good as the time I found out Ironhide watches soap operas!!

Ironhide: YOU WEREN'T SUPPOSED TO TELL::Runs out crying::

:::Fades out:::

--Okami left on a trip to Europe for 21 days, hence the long wait for chapter 2.


	3. YAY! We UPDATED!

Foxx: HEEEEYYY!!! No body's reviewing...00...I know I screwed up the whole chapter deal but I thought it might work better–maybe. Anyway, I got rid of the character sheets–no one needed to know that anyway–it's mostly shown in the story anyway so please review!!! Please? The more reviews, the closer to getting another chapter done we get!

Okami:::looks at Foxx oddly:: Why do you say that?

Foxx: Motivation, dumb dumb. The more reviews, the more reason there is to get you down here to write another chapter of it. Confusingly vicious circle but yes, humor the pathetic half-author.

Okami: Whatever.

Foxx: Oh! And I kinda renovated the second chapter...kinda forgot about Salem–poor kitty... '

Salem: Meow?

Foxx: OH! HEEEYY! WAIT!! I've got a trivia question!!! It's from Racing Spirits.

**What is the bumper sticker on Hotshot's bumper and who gave it to him? (I know, pathetically easy but SHH! It's an easy...6 points! Cuz it was technically two questions.)**


	4. Pickles and Cheese and Pickles

Okami: Yaayzers, chapter 3! Finally! We're not dead yet! I only have cancer, that's all.

Optimus: WHAAAAAAAAAAAT?!

Okami: Not really, just wanted to see you freak out.

Foxx::sweatdrops:: Ooookay then. ANYWAY...sorry it's been so long since last post!! I haven't had a free weekend in like forever::cries:: Transformers the movie came out! WOOT::both girls do happy dances:: Yay!

Okami: Opti-kun has a mouth! It's weirdness but I wuvvles it! I saw the movie three times in theatres and was at Wal-Mart _**exactly**_ on the 16th in order to buy the special edition! Beat that, swarms of Iowa Transformer fans, mwuahaha!

Jetfire: ...I wasn't in the movie... SNUFF

Ironhide: I wuz! In your FACE, Jetfire!!

Foxx: It's okay, Jeffy! We still love you:: hugs Jetfire's leg::

Okami: We may own the kick-ass new movie, action figures, keychains, half of armada on DVD (damn best buy, only having the second half...!), but we do not own Transformers. Unfortunately. If we did, Jazz would not have died. And Optimus would actually be in my driveway right now... ::Shifty eyes::

Foxx::nods vigorously:: YEP! Anyway, on with the Chapter Intro! Um...what are we gonna call it::looks around at the other Transformers for ideas but they all just shrug:: You're a hell'va lotta help there, guys. - -'

Sideswipe::barrels into the room:: I wanna introduce it!! Please, please, please, please, pleeeeeeeeeeeeease?!!

Foxx: 00...okay...

Okami: Be aware of some kinky little sexual references Not appropriate for prudes and sensitive feelings. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED. NO SUING! Or we will sick our ninja armies of squirrels on you!

Fluffy-Kakashi-sama: HIYAAAAH::Does karate kick::

Okami: Fluffy-Kakashi-sama, that's Judo, not ninjitsu, you moron!

Fluffy-Kakashi-sama: Oops. My bad. ::Does bow to a gong, then throws down a smoke pack and disappears..only to be found dead down the hall from the vapors, little foot twitching in the air as his tongue is hanging out, paws in the air::

Optimus: ... ... ... ... ... Okay.

Foxx: Nobody ever said they were smart...

Sideswipe: YAAAY::Holds up a sign:: Chapter 3--Pickles and Cheese and Pickles and Cheese and Pickles...::Looks blandly at them::

Okami::Shrugs:: We couldn't think of anything better, so we just wrote the first thing that came to mind.

Sideswipe: ...Okay. ::Shrugs and grins:: Enjoy!

"So I'm some kind've living battery or somethin'? Is that what you're saying?" Jade asked, a stick of Pocky (AN: Yay pocky!) in her mouth as she looked up at Red Alert. "A rather blunt way to put it, but, yes, in a way you are." He replied. "...Optimus, plug me into something! I wanna see if it works!" Jade looked over and he deadpanned. "I am _**not**_ 'plugging' you into something. It's unorthodox." He said. "...Sour-ass." was the dry reply.

Trish sprawled gracelessly on one of the many ledges, face down and unmoving. Adrian dinked around with Hotshot's leg, trying to unscrew something with little success. "Here, try touching this!" he called, tossing a battery operated vibrator at her. (A/N: Adrian's a bit weird sometimes and at others...well, you can see...- -').

"...Oooh!" She grabbed it and it immediately started going off in her hands. Her eyes went shifty and when nobody was looking, she shoved it into her back pocket and smiled innocently to herself. "NOW, pay attention. We need to find some way to let you control your--" Optimus began, but noticed that she was staring off with a satisfied grin. He was silent, confused, then he seemed to growl to himself. He snapped his fingers in front of her face. "Oh, what? No--I couldn't, no, no!" She blurted, yanking out of some kind of fantasy and holding out her arms as if pushing someone back. "...What are you _thinking_ in that head of yours?" Jetfire asked. "...Nothing to do with you. TRUST ME." She said dryly, reaching into her back pocket and turning it off--pretending to scratch her aft in the meantime.

"Nggghhh..." Trish grumbled quietly. Getting up begrudgedly, she kicked off her sandals. Blue jeans with belled bottoms fit snuggly to her frame, she tugging at her green halter top. The mechanics rag still stuck out of her back pocket, dirty and worn from use. "So _why_ exactly are we here again?" she asked.

"Well, back-up support from friends is always good." Sideswipe said. "He's right--if you can't expect your friends to back you up when you need them, you're in trouble." Jetfire said. "Anyway... Enough with the fluffiness... Can I just try to play around with this stuff and see if it works? Practice makes perfect, right?" Jade asked. "On Cybertron, usually a younger transformer with the ability would practice to link with their mentor. But, seeing as you're not a transformer, it can't be done. We'll have to find a way to skirt around that." Red Alert said. "...Are you saying that they like go _inside_ their teacher? Are all robots yaoi or something?" She blinked. "What's 'yaoi'...?" Jetfire asked. "Uh... Nothing! Don't look it up, it's just a nonsense word!" Jade lied quickly, hands waving.

"Hm..." Trish barely heard a word of what was being said. She'd been up almost all night tinkering with Genesis, trying to get him to work again. Unfortunately, it wouldn't. She'd had to bum a ride with Hotshot and Adrian, who'd come to pick them up that morning. "Here," said the brunette, Alexis, said, holding out a cup of coffee. Trish nodded, "Thanks," and gulped down the steaming hot caffeinated beverage. "Mmm...coffee..." she said with a sigh and a content smile. "Uh...Mouse, I think you might wanna come see this..." Adrian called from the ledge not far from her facing the entrance. He'd stopped dinking with Hotshot's leg when he heard a weird sound like an engine running. Trish had no more than turned when something like a grappling hook blew through the ledge near where she stood and caught on the wall near Optimus's head. All of the Autobots went into alert mode but Adrian tried to stop them. "No! No! It's okay! It's--" a blue and black colored transformer appeared before them, seeming to cock an optic at Optimus and the others before standing a little ahead of Adrian and Trish. "Who are you and what do you want with these humans?" he growled at them. Trish looked up at him, blinking in sheer amazement. He was fairly small for a transformer, only standing about a head shorter than Sideswipe, but he had a fiercely determined look on his face.

"DAAH! Grappling hook! Waaah!" Jade grabbed onto the back of Optimus's palm and hid behind it, then she shuddered. "I am Optimus Prime, leader of the Autobots. And these are my men. We merely seek to help this child and protect them from the Decepticons. And you are?" The Autobot leader saw no insignia as of yet that would reveal whether this strange new transformer was Autobot or Decepticon. A rogue, probably, he thought to himself, if he didn't know Prime. Something was oddly familiar--and how did he get in here, to begin with...?

"My name is Genesis," the transformer said, wary of the other Transformers. "I protect Trisha Allen and her brother Adrian from any and all harm. Optimus Prime...hmm...I don't recall that name. Decepticons..." Genesis seemed to harden at the prospective. "You're...Genesis?" Trish asked in utter astonishment. She looked up at him with complete shock and awe then promptly passed out. Adrian too looked up at the transformer in awe, looking over in time to catch his sister as she fell unconscious to the floor.

"Genesis is a transformer...!?" Jade peeked out. Then she walked to the edge of the transformer's-sized table and looked at him in shock, "...Wow--that's interesting. Then why haven't you, y'know, acted up earlier or something by now?" She asked in confusion. "Good question. Tell me, are you a rogue Transformer? And how long have you been away from Cybertron, soldier?" Optimus questioned, his optics going to the smaller Transformer. So--Trisha's motorcycle had been a transformer all along...

"He did act up earlier," Adrian said quietly, "A lot earlier. Before we met you guys, actually. Ya see, Genesis used to be our father's motorcycle that he never repaired. I helped Trish fix him up years later. He transformed in front of me once when Trish was at school a long time ago, that's why she doesn't know about it. I thought I was drunk or something and didn't think anything of it until now. I suspected at the beginning but he never changed back." The transformer looked down at Trish and Adrian then back at Optimus. "My spark was knocked loose and for a long while, I was quite listless. I have not been to Cybertron in several Earth years--I would venture to guess around 30 human years. Yes, I was and still am a rogue, as you would call it. I dare not align myself with the Decepticon scum," he growled in an angry tone.

"Wow... I'm just gonna go take a nap, now, and play with the vi--I mean, sleep off all this annoying stuff." Jade punched Optimus's hand, "HEY!! Brute! Lemme down!" She said, and he sighed, gingerly putting her onto the ground. Suddenly Jade sneezed and all the lights went out. "...Whoops."

Genesis looked around then his eyes narrowed. "Decepticons..." he growled. "No, no, that's just Jade's dandy power!" Adrian tried to quickly assure him. "Huh...?" Trish opened her eyes to complete blackness. "Um...what happened to the lights...?" she asked, sitting up and trying to feel around. She caught hold of Genesis's leg, the transformer looking down to see it was only her. He didn't move for fear of startling her. She gave a small cough and the lights came back on again. "That's weird..." she looked up at what it was she'd grabbed onto and almost screamed had it not been for Adrian's quick thinking and tackling her, covering her mouth with a hand. "It's okay! It's just Genesis! He's a good guy, okay? A good guy! Calm down!"

"Ugh... I suddenly don't feel so great..." Jade noted, covering her mouth and leaning on Prime's leg for support. Then she coughed into her hand, the lights going berserk, and he looked at Red Alert. "Yes, I was afraid this might happen. Humans are very unstable creatures--they absorb Energon at such a fast rate their insufficient bodies have no time to safely convert the energy. She just needs some time to filter, I'll make sure she'll be fine--and... Trish, would you mind coming with me? I want to check on something." Red Alert had noticed the little cough and such, and pieced a few things together as he picked up a shivering Jade.

Trish nodded vaguely, sitting up and absently following after him. She was still in a little bit of shock from Genesis turning out to be a Transformer. Adrian stood and looked up at Genesis, who was looking down at Adrian to ask 'what the hell happened here?'. "Long story, big guy. Long story."

"Yes... This could be a challenge. We have to find a way to slow down these powers. They're coming along too quickly..." Prime suddenly remembered something, "Adrian... When you fixed Hotshot, did you touch his spark?" He asked the young man, turning his direction down. If Adrian did, then why wasn't he showing any symptoms of the abilities? Perhaps he didn't have the ability, either, or... _His immunity to electricity_. That was a symptom...! "Red Alert! Take Adrian as well!" Optimus called, and nodded at the young man. "It might not be true--but I just want to be sure." He said. "Right--if all three humans are affected, we'll have a lot of work on our hands." Jetfire said, arms crossing as he watched Trish walk off quietly. "Exactly. We'll help them as best as we can, right, Bro?" Sideswipe asked Hotshot. "Yeah, of course! We have to protect _all_ humans--especially since the Decepticons have shown so much interest in Jade's abilities--if the other two have similar powers, we're in a tough spot..." The yellow bots arms crossed.

Genesis looked a little wary of letting them go off so he followed Adrian and Hotshot, perching crosslegged on one of the platforms as he watched silently. Trish adopted a strangely similar position but faced away from him, not realizing he had followed them. Adrian looked between the two with a questioning gaze then shook his head, forgetting the eccentric idea that the two might be connected. They'd just been around one another too long.

Red Alert settled Jade in a space and directed the machine around her so a small sphere of energon formed around her. "This should block off any more from reaching her so it doesn't get worse--it should give her time to filter." He said at Sideswipe's confused look, then he turned to the siblings, "I'm going to do a scan on you two--I'm sorry, but we have to make sure that nothing's wrong." He said, directing the little wires and tubes and attatching them. "This will take a while, kids. Sorry." He added.

"Okay..." Trish laid back, staring at the ceiling for a while then falling asleep. Adrian frowned but did the same. He stared at the ceiling, his hands behind his head and thought about all sorts of random things.

"It's just as we feared--Adrian and Trish have Energon levels similar to Jade's." Red Alert said as the other Autobots gathered around the results. "Their Energon's all different... So it really does form to the user, just as the rumors said." Blurr noted. "Right... No human or transformer is the same, after all. So why should Energon be?" Scavenger snorted. "Hey, don't be an ass!" Was the angry retort. "Shut up! My head hurts!" Jade argued, covering her ears and wincing. "Why are Adrian's powers not acting up, though? About the only things spectacular about him so far is that he can take electricity and he can burp classical music." Hotshot noted.

Trish groaned, pulling a pillow over her eyes. Genesis hadn't moved, it would seem, from his post. Adrian was contently burping away 'The Nutcracker Suite', wiggling his fingers in time to the beat.

"...I must admit that _is_ impressive, on some level." Jetfire noted, and Optimus gave him a dry look. "Would you children like to go home and rest for a while?" Optimus offered soothingly. "Uh-huh..." Jade nodded, and stood, stumbling but doing better than she was. "I'll take you home today." He said, transforming and his door popping open for her. "Thank you, Optimus..." She crawled in, settling in the seat and sighing. "All right--I'll take you guys home, then." Hotshot said, then saw Genesis's glare. "...All right, Trish, why don't you ride ahead of me on Genesis?" He added quickly, sensing that he was a little overprotective of her.

Trish blinked, then nodded. Genesis transformed back and she clambered on tiredly. "I can't guarantee that I won't fall asleep," she warned him ahead of time. He revved the engine in reply, she grabbing hold of the handle bars and picking up her feet. "See ya, Jade, guys!" she called tiredly, the two taking off to be followed by Hotshot.

Optimus had taken Jade home, and she walked in as he pulled out and drove off. She turned as her little siblings ran into the room, faces white. "What is it, twerps?" She asked. "Mama's really cold and she's not moving! Sissy, do something!" Talc grabbed her coat, eyes wide and alarmed. "She won't answer us! Sissy--she just started shaking really bad, and then she went still!" Ruby said--and Jade Neveah ran into the other room and paused in alarm. Elena was rigid in her La-Z boy, eyes staring at the ceiling, dull and glazed over. Her wine glass was shattered on the floor and Jade went still, realizing what had happened. She ran to the phone and dialed 911. "Hello? My name is Jade Neveah," She quickly gave her address. "What's wrong? I came home to find my mother _dead_ in a chair! I think her liver gave out or something or alcohol poisoning or something--get someone out here, damn it!" She hissed into the phone, then hung up and turned to her confused siblings. "Ruby, Talc, why don't we go sit outside and wait for the nice men in the ambulance to get out here?" She asked shakily, taking her cell phone and leading them outside. "Why is the ambulance coming? Is Mama sick?" Ruby asked. "...Mama is gonna go to the hospital, you two. And she's... not going to come home this time." Elena's weak liver had already given out before, but Jade had been home at the time and had been able to apply CPR. But this time... This time... She speed-dialed, taking the phone silently to her ear. "...Mr. Burnside? You're my lawyer. I'm about to file a lawsuit like you've never seen in your lifetime."

Trish plodded up the numerous steps to their apartment, Genesis parked in the garage not far from their building. Adrian was already almost a flight of steps ahead of her, he stopping and waiting for her. She plodded past him, he opening the door and throwing his jacket into the chair in the entryway. "How's Ramen sound, sis?" he called, she plodding tiredly back to the bathroom. "Fine," she called back. "I'm gonna go take a bath." she shut the door behind her and sighed, feeling drained. _You're tired...why not rest?_ came a strange new voice in her head. She was too tired to reply, drawing a bath. Sliding into the warm water, she let herself sink, unaware of her own actions. Slowly, her head sank beneath the surface of the water, her eyes slipping closed and she surrendered to the voices talking to her in her mind. _End it all...let it all go...let your power come to us...give in to your dark side..._

"You're too young to take legal custody of your siblings, even if you _do_ win legal independence--the court won't even begin to listen to your testimony! Unless you can offer up a better legal guardian of the _proper_ age, you and the children will be sent to foster homes." Burnside argued. "I don't care--take this to court, damn it! I will NOT lose Talc and Ruby, too, damn it! I refuse to lose anybody else, you hear me?! I will do whatever it takes--blackmail the hell out of the judge, the court, the jury, whatever--I don't care! Just make sure I get legal custody of them, damn it!!" She yelled, eyes clenching shut as she punched the table again. WHY--WHY--WHY WAS EVERYONE DYING?! Then her eyes softened. "...I would like to call a possible candidate for legal guardian."

The old man winced from his prison, curled up in the corner. His concentration over the girl named Trisha was difficult--the girl had an extremely strong will. "Have you cursed the mother to death like I told you to?" Sideswipe asked smoothly. "Yes... you monster... My darling Elena... You made me kill my Elena...! Now to take over that poor girl's body--you're truly _**evil**_!!" He yelled. "If you don't take over her body... Your two youngest children shall be cursed to death by your hand. Their powers aren't active. They're spares for all I care. So _do it_." Sideswipe's optics narrowed and he walked out, leaving the old man in tears.

The phone rang, Adrian looking up from the cooking to the phone. He hastily picked it up, "Hello?"

In the bathroom, Trish opened her eyes to see the top of the water. _What's going on? _she wondered to herself_ why am I underwater...?_ Lack of air made her lungs burn but she couldn't pull enough energy to force herself up out of the water. _What's happening to me? Why can't I move?! _Her arms flailed about futilely, she gripping the side of the bathtub and trying to pull but her body wouldn't obey. _Adrian...got to get Adrian...! _she kicked and thrashed about, fighting to move but her body wouldn't comply. _Submit to your dark side. Let yourself drown. Let me take over..._ she heard. _NO! _she thought screamed. _ADRIAN! SOMEBODY!!_ she felt the burning intensify sharply, dizziness sweeping over her in waves. She was drowning and there was nothing she could do about it.

"Adrian? Adrian--I'm so glad you answered. My mom... just died and... if I don't find a legal guardian, they're going to send us to foster homes... Adrian... I need your help so bad right now... I need you to come to my lawyer's office tomorrow at noon. It's a lot to ask, I know, but I'll help pay the bills and I'll take care of them so you don't have to worry about it..." Jade said, leaning on the desk. Tears filled her eyes.

The old man winced as he sat in the corner. "Let yourself drown. Let me take over... It's no use struggling. You will only lose oxygen sooner if you struggle, child. Let me take over. Let your darkness consume you. Destroy the Autobots. Destroy the Decepticons. Destroy your brother... Destroy all life!" He said, his will hardening against her mental strikes and defense blows, but then in the back of his mind he did something so subtle that Sideways or even Unicron would never be able to detect it. He made the radio in the bathroom start blaring. _I will not submit to you so easily, you evil bastard...!_ He thought to himself.

"Jade, Jade, honey, it's all right. Sure, I'll be there, okay? Trish and I both will be. Do you need someone over there now?" he paused when he heard the radio blaring in the bathroom. "Trish, are you all right?" he called. Something didn't seem right. He heard the splashing of water on the floor and knew something was wrong. "TRISH!" he cried, the phone falling to the ground as he raced back to the bathroom. Flinging open the door, he saw Trish flailing about in the water, trying to get up to breathe but unable to do so. It seemed something was holding her down. He raced forward, attempting to yank her up out of the water. However, this attempt didn't help-despite how much he tried, she couldn't get up.

Feeling Adrian's hands on her shoulders and seeing his face above her, trying to pull her up, Trish gripped the sides of the bathtub and screamed in her mind. _I'M NOT GOING TO DIE!_ she yanked up and the spell seemed broken, she lurching forward into the air, gasping for breath. She clambered to get out of the tub, sending more water all over the floor as she fell onto the hard marble surface. Adrian hugged her close, wrapping her tightly in a towel. "Trish, what the hell happened here?" he asked, she unable to reply as she gasped for breath, tears filling her eyes.

"Adrian--ADRIAN!?" She shouted into the phone, then she hung up and ran towards the door. "Ruby, Talc, COME!!" She yelled, and they immediately were at her heels obediently. "But--" Burnside began. "Shut your useless lawyer ass up! I'll be back!" She slammed the door shut behind her. She grabbed both of her siblings and took off at a run as fast as she could towards their apartment, not too far off. By the time she reached the scene, she left Ruby and Talc in the living room and walked in to see Adrian protectively holding his sister. "What happened?! What's wrong?" She asked.

"Their willpower is too strong. They are young and I am old. I may be strong, but they are more so. Power rises with every generation..." The old man's eyes closed as Sideways confronted him. "This is an outrage. That's it--kill Ruby and Talc Neveah. NOW." He said. "I am... too exhausted from battling the girl's will." was the reply. Sideways calculated the old man silently, then he reached out and collared him. "Nevermind... I've thought of a better use you can be for me... But you can't do it, not looking old and crippled like that... I'll just have to return your age to normal." Sideways said.

Trish fell into a coughing fit, clutching the towel protectively around her. "I'm cough okay, really. I'm okay..." her words lapsed into another coughing fit, the lights flickering brighter every time she coughed. Adrian looked at the bathtub in contempt then helped his sister stand. "Let's get you dressed then you can tell us what happened," he said, steering her gently toward her room. Her knees buckled and she shook but nodded, making her way to the room. Throwing on the first outfit she found, she grabbed up a sweatshirt and tugged it on, wrapping her arms around herself before going out to face the group of them. "Why don't you guys go play in the other room? There's some toys in my closet if you want to play with them," she said in a sisterly way to Ruby and Talc. "I need to talk to your sis for a few minutes, okay?" she asked.

"Okay, Sissy-Two!" The two ran out, giggling, and Jade drained the water and turned to the other girl. "Something feels unnatural about this... I don't like this... It feels too weird..." She noted, hugging herself with a shudder, then she walked into the other room where Adrian had turned off the kitchen utilities and was sitting his sister down, making sure she was all right.

"I'm okay, Adrian." Trish looked up when Jade walked in. "Hi. Um...why exactly are you here?" she asked, a tad confused.

"Adrian dropped the phone so I ran here like a bat-outta-hell. Duh." was the dry reply, "Ditched my lawyer and everything--not that I mind. I'm gonna find a new lawyer pretty soon, anyway. Incompetent bastard..." Jade said dryly, arms crossing.

"Long story," Adrian replied when Trish looked up at him questioningly. "Mind telling us why I found you drowning in the bathtub?" he asked. She let out a small sigh. "I don't know what came over me," she said, hugging herself tighter. "It was like someone wanted me to drown myself. Then when I came around, I couldn't move. I couldn't pull myself up out of the water." She shuddered involuntarily.

"...I thought something felt weird. The voices that assaulted my mind... must've come after yours, too. That's it--I'm going to go tell Optimus. It's not like he can do much, but it may be better that we're not stuck alone. I nearly went homicidal, Trish was nearly suicidal..." Jade's arms crossed and her eyes went to the door where the kids' laughter was ringing through. "...I don't want to endanger anybody else. Maybe it's time we... vanished, so to speak." She said.

Trish looked up at her friend then down at the table. "Yes. I think it's time." Adrian's comforting hand on her shoulder made her look back at him, she reaching up and gripping it tightly. "I'll go get packed," she whispered. She stood, walking back to her bedroom where Ruby and Talc were playing. They had her collection of childhood toys she'd not gotten rid of spread across her floor, Ruby having a mini tea party with the old blue teddy bear Trish had when she was younger. Talc was playing with the cars among the numerous piles of Legos spread across the carpet, running them into the piles and making crashing noises. She smiled faintly then stepped lightly around them to her closet, pulling out the black duffle bag she used on trips. "Hey, you two hungry? Want some ramen?" Adrian called, setting two bowls out on the table for them.

"RAMEN! YAAAY!!" The two ran out--Jade's favorite food was ramen, and her favorite was their favorite--and climbed up onto the books he'd stacked for them, and picked up chopsticks (as said before, Damien taught his children as much as he could) and beamed. "Tank yoo, Budda!" Ruby grinned--she had some missing teeth. Talc, however, was simply a four-year old and didn't quite get the whole speech thing yet. "Buddha, yay!" He said.

Trish picked up the Legos quietly, memories of her father playing with her and building towers of Legos around her, 'trapping' her in then laughing as she plowed through them, Legos flying everywhere. Pushing the thoughts aside, she threw the toys back in the bucket she'd kept them in and stashed it back in her closet, turning to her dresser and emptying out the drawer's contents into her bag. _I'll have to go out and tell Genesis...he'll probably worry..._ she thought to herself. She'd gotten used to the idea of him being a transformer--odd as an idea as it was. Closing the bag, she folded up her blankets and stacked them beside the bag, leaving them on her bed as she walked out the door. "I'm going to see to Genesis--I'll be right back," she told Adrian when she passed his door. He looked up and nodded, she slipping out the front door.

"Right--I'll go and get their stuff ready. Adrian, thanks for keeping an eye on them... Buddha-sama." She did a Buddhist bow and ran out, laughing. She ignored his indignant protest after but knew Talc and Ruby were in good hands--despite the fact he was a clueless moron--sometimes--with issues, the guy was a class A person when it came to kids. Maybe it had something to do with the similar IQ...

"We're going to disappear for a while," Trish said, sitting cross-legged on the work table she'd cleared of the tools. "Why?" he asked, the idea of a talking motorcycle still a little weird but Trish getting used to it. "I'll tell you later...I don't want to talk about it right now," she whispered. "We just need to disappear for a little while." Genesis didn't like her answer but didn't push the matter. She was shaken, he noticed, and looking a little pale. "I just wanted to let you know." She turned and walked out quietly, leaving him wondering what exactly had happened to her. 

"We can try to live by ourselves, but that's too complicated for us, considering that we'll have Talc and Ruby." Jade said upon returning a little while later, shouldering a huge hiking bag full of all three of their stuff, "Rad said something about the Autobots returning home to Cybertron in the next few days to chase after the Decepticons, and that he and the others are going with them. Perhaps our best bet is to go with them, too. It means dealing with Billy--but I'd like to see the government try to find us then." She said.

Trish and Adrian nodded, Adrian having both kids on his back begging him for a piggy back ride. Trish carried her duffle bag and his bags. "Should we call Optimus?" she asked. "I agree that's a good idea but how are we going to get all this stuff out there? Adrian's car is staying here and Genesis can't carry all these bags-he's a motorcycle, not a family car."

"...We don't need everything we own, I don't think--we can take his car to walking distance of the base and take it from there." Jade noted. "Sissy--where's Cabatoon?" Talc tugged on her shirt. "Ahh... Well, it's... in outer space! You're going to be a spaceman, my bro!" She said--his eyes glittered and she turned away, eyebrow twitching. _Optimus is gonna kill me..._

Adrian nodded, Trish piling everything in the back. "Everyone got everything?" he called, looking back at Talc and Ruby, stationed in the back seat with pans on their heads. He'd managed to convince them they were space helmets to go along with the whole 'adventure to outerspace' theme. Trish followed behind on Genesis, Jade in the front next to Adrian--who was driving. "Space Cadet Ruby, Space Cadet Talc! Blast off in 5...4...3...2...1!" Adrian cried, the kids going berserk in the backseat. Trish gave a small laugh as they took off, casting one last glance at her apartment before turning her back to it and concentrating on the road.

Optimus was indeed in for a nasty surprise. He was overseeing the ship as everything was getting prepared for take-off--when a little sandy blond boy with green eyes was suddenly staring up at him. He was silent for a moment, then he wondered if his mind was playing tricks on him. He double-checked--the kid was still there, but... A brown-haired little girl was now besides him too. Optimus groaned--apparently he was working too hard. He was seeing things--and worse, they were multiplying. "...AH!! He's big!" The girl noted, pointing. "Giganormous!" Talc exploded, arms flying out as he beamed. "Ah--Talc, Ruby, come back!" Jade ran over and laughed nervously. "Hi, Optimus--I see you've met my siblings. Sorry--they escaped from me after when I was talking to Genesis about coming." She said. "Why are your siblings and..." His optics caught the bag on her shoulders. He pieced two and two together. "...NO. NO. I refuse to take you on this journey--it's bad enough that the others are coming--and those children are too small--" He began to rant, but Jade silently reached into her back pocket, turned on the vibrator, smiled and nodded.

Trish laughed, shaking her head as she and Genesis walked up the ramp to the ship. "You're coming with us?" Jetfire asked, looking down at Trish. She looked up at him. "Yes, we're coming. Gotta problem with it?" she asked. Before he could reply, she was past him and walking after Alexis and Rad, who were settling in their own rooms. Genesis gave a sympathetic shrug to Jetfire, who looked a tad confused at the turn of events, then walked past him after Trish.

"Optimus, you need to chill. Here--try this." Jade walked over to him, reached into her back pocket, and smacked something into the gap of his armor. The sound of something vibrating against metal rang out and she whistled, turning and steering the two children away, "All right, kiddies, let's find you a room by Sissy, okay? Good!" She said cheerfully. "Uh, hey... I looked up 'yaoi', and all I got were pictures of human males doing strange things..." Sideswipe said. "...You must've spelled it wrong." Jade said quickly, and rushed the two off quicker. "But, Sissy, you say Yaoi's sexy and then you go into your room with that strange toy that shakes--" Talc began. "DO NOT DISPENSE SISSY'S PRIVATE LIFE IN PUBLIC, TALC, DAMMIT!! ...But, I do feel like my shoulders are much lighter without that secret... Huh..." She took her chin thoughtfully, then turned to Optimus, "When you're done with that--I want it back."

Adrian settled into the room next to Trish, Trish in the room next to Alexis. "Optimus, when you've got a minute, Jade and I need to talk to you...privately," Trish added, passing the robot and hearing the vibrator and getting a guilty smile on her face. "When you're done, of course." Adrian entertained Talc and Ruby, Genesis following Trish.

"...What?" Optimus was absolutely lost as to why there was a small violently shaking plastic device in his armor, so he removed it and turned it off, confused. "...Why do I get the feeling that something extremely inappropriate just happened...?" He asked. "Yo, Optimus, why do you have a vibrator?" Billy asked. "What...?" He asked, turning to the human, who prepared a breath to explain...

"OPTIMUS, MEETING. NOW!" Trish snapped, sneezing and the lights flickering. "Damn it..." she growled. She sneezed again, this followed by a cough and the lightbulb above her shattered. She flat eyed and glowered. "Pah."

Optimus came in, then he cleared his throat and looked dryly at Jade. "...You just couldn't let yourself be patient, could you?" He said dryly. "Where's my vibrator?" She asked after a moment. "I destroyed it--you should not possess something like that." He argued. "...Not my poor Yureru! He was... How could... YOU MONSTER!!" She yelled, pointing accusingly at him, "You owe me a lotta money now!! You know how much you have to PAY for a good vibrator these days?! DAMN YOUUU!!" She yelled, then regained her composure dryly, "ANYWAY, onto business..." She coughed into her fist.

Trish sat on the table, bickering back and forth with Genesis. "Your vibrator breaking isn't the problem here," he growled. "Yes it is!" she squeaked. "No it's not!" Trish glowered, "my lovely little toy broke and that's why I was the way I was earlier now out! Shoo! I'll be fine on my own!" she protested. "That isn't the problem!" he grumbled. "Yes it was!" "No it wasn't!!" they had been obviously bickering back and forth like this for a while now. "YES IT WAS!" they both looked up when Optimus and Jade walked in.

"All right, what did you two want to talk to me about?" Optimus asked, and the two girls suddenly went quiet. Jade looked over at him after a moment. "We... can't stay here... We're... getting too dangerous for this planet..." Her eyes fell, "The voice that tried to get me to kill everyone... it... It..." She faded.

"It tried to get me to commit suicide in my bathtub last night," Trish said with a sigh. She hadn't wanted to worry Genesis about it but it was too late now. He looked at her in astonishment then sat, bewildered. "I knew you'd have that reaction," Trish grumbled quietly to herself. She sighed and turned away from the two transformers and her best friend. "I didn't want to worry you but if it's the same voice going after both of us, there's a problem. We just thought you might like to know," she whispered.

"If this keeps up, then who knows what will happen next. That's why we _**have**_ to come with you guys..." Jade's eyes turned up. "But the children--" Optimus began. "...I can't leave them here with strangers! They're the only family I have left!" Jade screamed, losing her composure, as tears flooded down her face, "If I go, they go! You shut up, you shut up! You don't tell me what's best for them...! My mother just died, dammit! My father's dead! I have no other family...! " She screamed, and he was silent. "...All right." He gave in at her heartbroken sobs. "Thank you, Optimus..." She choked, wiping at her face.

Trish turned and looked at Jade in astonishment. This was the first _she'd _heard of her mother's death. She knew her father had died a while before they'd moved but she hadn't heard of Jade's mother. She kept quiet, however, and walked towards the door. "So it's settled," she said faintly at the door then walked out.

In outer space, suddenly Sideswipe caught their attention at the scanner. "There's something drifting in space! Something with a high energon count, and it seems to be in statis!" He said. "You mean like--a stray space-pod, maybe?" Blurr asked. "Seems that way! Sir, permission to go retrieve it?" Jetfire asked. "If some poor living creature is trapped in space, we'd best save them." Optimus nodded. "Be back in a jiffy!" In moments, Jetfire was back with a pod, about roughly nine feet in height, and set it down. In moments, Red Alert rigged it open, and it hissed and steamed as the lid opened. Inside was a mid-aged man with a smooth-shaved face, brown hair, and fast asleep, in a... military uniform... Having glanced over curiously, Jade suddenly froze and her hand covered her mouth in alarm. Her eyes widened and she collapsed backwards onto her aft as the man groaned, his emerald eyes opening as he sat up. "Where am...? How did..." He looked over and Ruby and Talc both gasped. They screamed, running over to him and bawling. "R-Ruby...? T-Talc...?" He realized in shock, then tears filled his eyes as he threw out his arms and caught them, "You've both gotten so big since I've last seen you! Where's your big sister?" He asked, standing and hefting a child on each hip. Then he saw Jade, and smiled. "Hey, squirt?" He said, sliding out an arm some more without worrying about dropping. "D... D... DAAAAADDY!!" She wailed, running over and glomping him, sending him back onto his aft, laughing sadly.

Trish smiled, watching the happy reunion. Adrian hugged her sideways, Genesis growling as he stepped between the two and aimed his gun at the man. "Who are you and what are you doing here?" he growled. "Genesis..." Trish started but he wouldn't have listened to her anyway. She tried anyway. "You don't think there's something funny that this man shows up in a _pod_ in the middle of _outer space_?" he asked, not taking his optics off the man. "He just _happened _to get lost in a pod in outer space? That's a little _too_ convenient. Children, step away from the man, now," he told the kids hugging their father.

"He's right--it's TOO convenient." Blurr noted. "I was on a mission at a military base hidden in the North Pole, when suddenly a giant robot like yourselves attacked the base. I only survived because I managed to remove a light from its chest, but I fell unconscious. When I woke up, it was as if I was twenty years older and captive to more of its kind, and they forced me to master strange powers that I suddenly had... It was like hell..." Damien shuddered and looked up, "But I finally managed to escape. I knew going into a pod was suicide--but _anything_ was better than that hell... If you wish to, you may lock me up to prove my innocence." He said. "Sir--" Jetfire was clearly on Genesis's side. "...He is Jade, Talc, and Ruby's _father_. But we cannot simply trust him because of that... Forgive us, sir, but we will take your offer, and we will lock you up until you are proven worthy of trust." Optimus replied. "OPTIMUS!" Jade argued angrily. "Jade, please understand. I cannot trust everyone and anyone who comes along." He replied sadly. Jade, infuriated, pointed at Genesis, "If you're going to be untrusting of someone, make it _**him**_! He just _**happens**_ to be a rogue who _**happens **_to find Adrian and Trish, who have similar powers to me and he _**happens**_ to just recently wake up! The _**Decepticons**_ were interested in our powers! _**Lock him up, dammit**_!" She screamed angrily, several lights and screens shattering as the room began to shake with force. Damien reached out and embraced his daughter suddenly, his body drawing her energy away and the lights slowly repaired themselves as his light flared out and the shaking stilled, "Calm down, squirt. It seems this robot is a wise man... I will do as he says... Don't lose control, okay?" He stroked her hair soothingly. "Dad--" She began brokenly, then she glared at Genesis, obviously telling him that she couldn't trust him any further than she could throw him.

Genesis didn't respond to the glare; he was still trained on the man. Trish averted her gaze. It was true--they shouldn't be so trusting of Genesis. For all she knew, a Decepticon could have destroyed her old bike and taken its place. She stepped back, away from the rogue, and turned around. "I know the problems with the stories--they both have their flaws. Why did Genesis wake up now? But why did your dad suddenly happen to fall into our path? It seems a little _too _convenient that he crossed our path now. For all we know, the transformers--I'm assuming Decepticons--that kidnapped him could be using his powers to go against us. For all we know, Genesis could be putting on a guise that he's our friend and the bike that I've known since I can remember. For all we know, we both could be instruments--pawns--to kill off all the Autobots but we don't know that Jade! We don't know!" She dropped her gaze to the floor then stalked out of the room. "Trish..." Adrian called but she was already gone.

"...My father would _never_ allow himself to be used." Jade seethed to herself as her father let go of her and went with Scavenger, who was going to lock him up. "...Jade, I'm _**sorry**_, but--" Optimus began. She whirled on him, eyes narrowing, "..._I hope your happy_. You just locked up my _**father**_, damn you!! You claim to be a good, righteous person, but _**where is the justice in this, damn it**_!?" She shrieked, and grabbed her siblings and dashed out.

_Just because he's her father doesn't mean anything, _Trish thought to herself, bitter memories coming back to her. _It doesn't mean a __**damn**__ thing. _She thought of her father, a supposedly good guy that loved his wife and children, who supposedly loved her and would never leave her, but he did. He left her for some blonde bimbo in the front seat of his car, her mother screaming foul words at him as he backed down the driveway. She remembered crying, running after him, screaming 'Daddy!' through her tears. She remembered Adrian catching her before she could follow him. She remembered how he never looked back, never once waved, or said goodbye. She slammed the door of her room, hearing it shut with a satisfying 'bang!' but it didn't seem satisfying. Leaning against it, she flipped the lock then pushed off it, walking to the window. _He's a male. He's like all the others--they exist to hurt people._

"My father's alive... he's alive... He's alive..." Jade told herself, tears in her eyes. A thought suddenly hit her and her eyes widened, then she slid down the door and broke into tears. "I'm sorry...! I love you... I love you so much...!" She sobbed, covering her eyes.

Okami: Oooh... Quite the plot twist, eh? Mwuahahaha...

Optimus: Family issues clashing. Intriguing development.

Hoist: Is Damien truly free of Sideway's rule, or is he still just a pawn? Is Genesis really what he says he is?

Okami: I dunno. We haven't written that far yet. ::Shrugs::

Hoist: ...T.T ...Does the term 'rhetorical question' mean anything to you?

Okami: Why, yes, I believe it means that--

Hoist: THAT WAS A RHETORICAL QUESTION::Runs off, frustrated::

Okami: Hehehehehe... I love doing that...

Foxx::laughing in the background:: Yay! And, and GUESS WHAT! Someone answered the quiz question from...um...a chapter!!! It wasblood shifter and the question was

**What is the bumper sticker on Hotshot's bumper and who gave it to him?**

and they only got it part right–the bumper sticker WAS "My other car is your mama" but Trish didn't give it to Hotshot. She had nothing to do with it. It was Adria, the weirdo. It was kinda a tricky question so we're gonna give it to um anyway cuz they're the first one that answered! Anyone that has an answer for the question from the 2nd chapter better answer it quick cuz we have a time limit! If it's not answered by the time the next chapter (4) is posted, it will go POOF! No, it just won't be answerable anyway. So get to answering people!!

Okami: This chapter's new question is from the NEW AWESOME KICK-ASS MOVIE!! **Bumblebee's **_**original**_** form from G1 is shown in the movie. What kind of car is it, and where is it shown? **Mwuahaha... G1 geeks, RISE UP AND STRIKETH THE QUESTION DOWN WITH YOUR MIGHT!! ...I haven't had too many Rolos today, no... ::Twitchy eyes::

Optimus: ...You are limited on caffeine now. I am reinforcing that.

Okami::shoves an entire Reeses Klondike bar into her mouth and sticks her tongue out through the ice-creamy goodness:: Whavadathjuicena? Translation: What was that just now?

Optimus: TT CHILDREN. ::Snorts in disgust::

Foxx: O.o...No more caffeine...::gets pathetic puppy dog eyes and quivering lips:: NOOOOOOO::bawls uncontrollably::

Jetfire: Here ya go::hands Foxx a thing of Oreos 0.0 (be VERY afraid) and runs FAR FAR AWAY as FAST as he can::

Okami: OO NOOOOOO!! Haven't you read our unpublished Kingdom Hearts fanfiction that states the very DEADLY reaction that happens to Foxx on too much Oreoooooooos!?

Jetfire::Looks at the story on her computer, then screams like a little girl and runs for the wind::

Sideswipe: It can't be that bad--

::Foxx's pupils dilate as she begins to shake uncontrollably, Oreo-froth coming from her mouth::

Okami: RUN FOR YOUR WORTHLESS METAL LIVES::Jumps onto Optimus's shoulder:: RUNRUNRUNRUNRUNRUNRUN!!

Optimus::WISELY flees::

::Foxx flies towards the screen, claws and teeth like fangs bared, and the screen turns to static and a crashing sound is heard:: OREEEEOOOOOOOOOOOOS!!!

::Riku's voice in background:: Oh dear god.- -' Not again...


	5. Kidnappings and Pushovers

Foxx: YAAAY

Foxx: YAAAY! We're still alive!! Yay!!

Jetfire: I wasn't aware you were in danger of dying… …………..

Foxx: :deadpans: Riiiight…

Optimus: :Looks at Ōkami: WHO ARE YOU??

Ōkami: :Deadpans: You're pulling my leg, right?

Optimus: OO OMG, you grew like an inch—and your hair's longer… OO''' Um…

Ōkami: :P Dickwad. You could at least pretend that you're not pulling my leg. (jerk, how could you forget me!! I'm not that much different looking!! If at all!! X.X grr…)

Foxx: Aaaaanyway….we're still alive…as sad as that may be for you people. And here is the next installment of Racing Spirits! Yay! :munches happily on shortbread and pocky:

Sideways: Chappie 4: Kidnappings and Push-overs!!

Ōkami: What kinda crack are you on…? .' By the way—SOMEONE GOT THE LAST QUESTION!! A COOKIE AND POINTS TO YOU, !!

Jade was silently walking through the ship, staring out the stars before she stopped and turned her head to look at a shooting star, reaching out and putting her hand on the glass. Talc and Ruby were with their dad right now, and she thought they deserved more time with him than she did—after all, she'd known him better when he'd vanished. "…Ah, there you are." She jumped and looked over at Red Alert, and her eyes narrowed. "…Does it want me?" She asked dully, and he seemed shocked. "…Optimus would like to speak to you and Trish." He said. "…Yeah, I figured it wanted something." She said dully, walking away and ignoring his disgruntled look.

Trish lay on her bed, Salem stretched out contently on her stomach as she scratched him. "Trish?" Jetfire knocked, the doors sliding open and his yellow optics looking in at her. "Optimus wants to talk to you…" she nodded, nudging Salem off then sitting up, dragging herself off the bed before picking up the cat and following Jetfire. 

Adrian was already there, sitting silently on Hotshot's shoulder as the other two walked in, and immediately Jade retreated to the corner furthest from Optimus, who sighed but did not say anything about it. "Now, then, we'll be reaching Cybertron shortly. I want everyone to prepare for a rough battle—the Decepticons are mostly in control of the planet, and we need to win it back It will be a multiple-sided attack, so it's going to be tough, but together, as a united front, we can do it…" He said, seeing everyone had assembled.

Trish set down the cat, it twining through her legs once before trotting off in search of the kids. He seemed to get along with them well. She nodded but remained quiet. Her thoughts were elsewhere. Genesis seemed to notice this spaced out look but didn't move from his spot by the large window, keeping one optic on the interior and one on the stars outside. _Cybertron…_he thought quietly. His home.

"…Can we just skip the inspirational little pep talk? Because it's really… pissing me off." Jade's eyes narrowed from where she was staring at the wall. "Jade! That's enough—you have no right to disrespect the Commander the way you have been lately—" Red Alert began, before she turned her head, her energy flaring up so he backed off. "…I don't recall you ever gaining the right to admonish me." She snapped, turning her head back to the wall without another word.

"Shut up, Jade," Trish growled, pissed off with her friend. "If you don't want to help, then stay here. Otherwise just shut your fucking mouth and let's get going." Adrian looked down at the two, confused and surprised. This was bad…this was VERY bad. "Where do we go?" She asked, looking up at Optimus.

"Just stay close and we'll try to keep things as clean as possible. Jade, I want you to stay close to me. Adrian, you and Hotshot are a team. Trish, Jetfire, Genesis, I want you three to stay together." Optimus said. "Right, sir!" Hotshot saluted, and silently Jade stood and began walking out. "…Jade, please, a word in private?" The Commander asked, and for a moment it seemed like she was going to ignore him and walk out, but instead she silently turned to him and followed him out after a long hesitation.

Adrian nodded, Trish just silently stepping on to Jetfire's outstretched hand. Genesis finally moved, coming to stand by them. "Ready."

"…I know you are angry with me, but, Jade, could you please look beyond this? There will be lives at stake and your embitterment—" Optimus asked. "…Don't you worry, Prime. I'm many things… but not so much a creep who would let a personal issue get in the way of something this far beyond that. You're wasting your own time and mind space if you think I'm going to let anybody die just because I'm pissed off." She said dully, walking away. "…Thank you, Jade." He said, and she paused. "…You're welcome." Was the emotionless reply as she kept walking.

Trish slid on the helmet then the protective gloves. She had already slipped on the body suit, made of some space chemical and regular jumpsuits. It protected like something akin to diamonds in space but was light and durable. The boots came last. Slipping down the opaque full-face visor, she looked like an alien but was protected as much as humanly—or transformerly—possible.

Jade walked in silently in the same protective armor and jumpsuit, looking at Trish and Adrian silently, as the Autobots began to go to different exits, and silently she walked over to Optimus and jumped up, using her powers to rocket up onto his shoulder without another word. "There will be a large rush… Just hold on tight and you should be all right." He said, and she just nodded silently.

Trish braced herself against Jetfire's shoulder, holding on tight to one of his fins. Adrian did the same with Hotshot.

The doors erupted open and there was a rush, one that forced Jade's fingers to dig in harshly into the Autobot's gaps in his armor as he plunged out into the merciless breach of outer space amongst laser fire and Transformers at war all around. One Decepticon got too close and she threw out a hand, slamming some space debris mercilessly into the side of his head and nearly smashing it clear off with a shower of sparks and inhuman screams, but she just looked forward again, silent, and prepared for whatever assault was coming towards them next.

Trish gripped Jetfire tightly, watching Genesis fly away from them a ways and rip apart a Decepticon limb from limb. Jetfire aimed at several of them blocking their path, Trish's eyes closing then snapping open. Cries of pain and agony could be heard from them as they were internally ripped apart, sparks wrenched from their chests to dissipate into outerspace, leaving their lifeless, useless crusts behind. 

"We've landed, Red Alert! Where's the strongest conflagration of the enemy?" Optimus looked up as Laserbeak flew up ahead. "Go directly Southwest. They have some of our boys cornered. Be careful, sir." Rang through, and Optimus took off at a run, when something caught Jade's attention and she turned her eyes up to the moon, her eyes widening as a certain sense of silent terror trickled into her soul and she forced herself to look away when she was on the verge of fainting from horror.

Trish avoided glimpsing at the huge gray orb, having felt that same feeling prickle her spine when they passed it to land. Jetfire and Genesis took off in a small concentrated area, helping out fallen Autobots and kicking more Decepticon butt. She shuddered when a single message flashed through her brain. It was the same voice that had tried to drown her. She recognized it. _Unicron_.

The terror was becoming too much—Jade was afraid it was going to choke her. When Optimus was preparing to distract some Decepticons in order for their targets to escape—she snapped, with a scream of frustration, lunging off directly towards them. "JADE!!" He roared, but her energy gathered around her and rocketed her forward in a blast of it, slamming down in the center and sending startled Decepticons in every which direction. "Well, well—OPTIMUS PRIME!!" He didn't have the time to go to the teenager, because he turned right into the face of his arch-nemesis, who sneered as he held a gun up to his opponent's face mask.

Jetfire busy wiping out several Decepticons and Genesis preoccupied with a straggler, neither noticed Trish's wince of pain as a dull throb. She shook her head, hoping to throw it off. It worsened from a dull throb to a sharp jab. Her hand flew to her head. Sharp jab to gut-flipping pain. She dropped to her knees, moaning in pain. "Fuck…this fucking hurts…" she whispered. Then, if the gut-flipping hadn't been bad enough, it intensified to full force, throw-up, makes a migraine look like a walk in the park, brain splitting pain. A scream ripped from her throat and she threw herself from Jetfire's shoulder, propelled away. _**Hello Trisha…**_

Damien silently looked out the window from his prison and his eyes fell. "Just as I feared. Being this close to Unicron is driving their minds and bodies to the limit… They'll go insane from the agony, and that's when the others Unicron has captured and gotten to work for him will go in and capture them…" His eyes roamed to the two small children sleeping contentedly at his sides. "Jade… I hope the three of you… are stronger than they are, or you will be doomed." He said softly.

"Who the hell are you?!" she screamed. Jetfire and Genesis both turned when she cried out, seeing her floating in space clutching her head in pain. "GET OUT OF MY HEAD!" She steadily thrashed her way away from them, Jetfire reaching out to grab her but stopped by a steely hand clamping over his arm. "I'll take her off your hands," a large, brute-sized huge transformer almost rivaling Tidal Wave said, knocking Jetfire back. Genesis leapt for him but was sent back by the backswing of the massive arm.

Adrian was going berserk. It felt like there were needles sticking into every pore of his body, conducting a different kind of electricity. This kind didn't feel good. This kind hurt. Several Decepticons closely rivaling Optimus rushed Hot Shot, dislodging the already unstable boy and sending him flying in the opposite direction. "ADRIAN!" Hot Shot called out, beating back the transformers but unable to reach him in time to snatch him back from a lightning quick red blur. 

Jade was on all fours, panting violently for breath, when the cracking of boots caused her to look up at a silent teenage boy with spiky violet hair and matching eyes, and… he wasn't wearing a helmet…! Why wasn't he dead…?! "…You're slow to evolve. All of you. Why would our master even care about such pathetic brats like you?" He noted dully. "…Wh-Who are… you…?! Wh-What are… you?!" Jade wheezed. "…My name is Denver. And I'm the same sort of being as you. A human who has evolved. Or rather… I am the same sort of being you will be when the evolution has finished." He sneered, grabbing her by the throat and lifting her off the ground. "Well, little girl, what do you have to say to that? Aren't you scared? Humans that don't age! Humans that don't require food or oxygen—we take the energy we need out of the very surroundings!" He sneered, as she fought to stay conscious, "And we serve lord UNICRON!!" He threw her so she went crashing into a pillar with a cry of pain.

_**Trisha…sweet, sweet Trisha…**_ the voice said. She screamed, ripping at her helmet, hoping maybe if she wrenched it off, she would be able to breathe. "WHO THE FUCK ARE YOU AND WHAT THE FUCK DO YOU WANT FROM ME?!" she screamed. _**You're evolving too…take it off…take it off and do what you must. Take care of the intruders…**_ the voice replied, not bothering to answer her first question. Images of the transformers, Decepticon and Autobot alike, flashed through her head. "The intruders…" she muttered.

Adrian fought against the sinewy arms of the person that had caught him but it was no use. She, her rock hard chest assured him, had a strong hold on him. "Let me GO!" she responded by gripping him tighter, the bad electricity slicing through his body again. He let out an agonizing scream, gripping her forearms tightly. _Got to get away…got to get away from this bitch…_

Jade fought to all fours, her helmet cracked as she heaved for air, blood dripping out of her mouths as her pupils dilated as small as possible in alarm as Denver walked over silently and smashed it off without another word. She tried to cover her mouth desperately, but her lungs sucked in and received nothing—_**AIR**_!! Her lungs screamed as they fought desperately to suck in again. "…You really are slow to evolve, aren't you? Your body still requires oxygen… pathetic." He slammed his foot into the side of her face and sent her skidding violently. "JADE!!" Optimus looked back in alarm then he yelled in pain as Megatron's laser struck into his shoulder and sent him crashing away from the teenager. "Now, now, Optimus, let them finish. I'm intrigued…" He sneered. "…Lord Megatron speaks of you three as the next step. Disgusting… to think that you're superior to me… Can you do… this…?!" The energy erupted up around Denver as Jade collapsed, suffocating and heaving and choking, eyes bulging in their sockets as her brain felt ready to explode, and he rocketed up in a spiral of energy before it redirected and slammed harmlessly into Megatron's chest, sinking in, and with a flare the Decepticon leader's armor sharpened and grew darker and deadlier as he sneered, blades shooting out from under his wrist armor.

Adrian finally managed to wrench himself from her grasp, slipping back with a huff. The two floated facing each other, the girl with a smirk on her face. She wasn't wearing a helmet… "_What _are you?" he said, horrified. "That was impolite. My name is Sei-Long. And you're coming with me. And master will be very pleased….very VERY pleased. Then I will get to play with my pets again!" Adrian hated to think what 'pets' she was talking about. Judging from her necklace—pure bones—he'd venture to guess she played rough with them.

"You bastard…where the hell are you…" Trish growled. Behind her, a white haired boy with icy gray eyes floated, a sadistic smile on his face. "You're going to be fun to play with…" Trish whipped around, squinting through the pain to see him. "….You're…" he was only about 12ish, old enough to be her little brother. "Trisha Allen…you're late. Come play with me."

"Megatron merged with the boy…" Optimus noted in shock, then he looked over in alarm as Jade began to shake violently and he knew she was just about gone, tears flooding down her face. "Optimus… I know you were just trying to protect me and the others… I'm so sorry…!" She sobbed, "Shh… It's all right, child, I know…" Optimus said, then he paused, realizing that her energy was gathering violently as her eyes turned up towards the transformed Megatron, and he realized in horror what was going on… She was going to go down performing a kamikaze strike.

Sei-Long, even though they were in outer space, was kicking Adrian's ass. Getting tossed about like a helpless rag doll, he could do nothing as one after another after another the punches and kicks came flying at him. Finally, getting fed up with it and feeling like the day after an atomic bomb had been dropped on his head, Adrian threw out his arms in a wide arc and screamed. Pure electricity flew from him, coursing through his veins and striking out, hitting Sei-Long. She cried out and flew back, a smile on her face. "Yes…"

"If you can guess my name, I'll let you go. No more headaches. Three guesses," the kid said, a smile on his face. "What kind of joke is this? Jacob?" the pain, which had dulled to gut-wrenching, spiked sharply, causing her to cry out. "I take that as a no… Horris?" another sharp pain. This one sent her reeling again. "STOP IT! KYLE! STOP IT!" he frowned. "Aw…you took all the fun out of the game…" he pouted. The pain ended abruptly, leaving Trish panting, hunched over her chest as she almost hurled. Now that the pain was gone, everything in her stomach she'd been working so hard to suppress wanted to come up…double fold.

Damien was silently, looking out. "…He's sent Kyle, Denver, and Sei-Long… Not good. But… I also sense the evolution cycle completing…" His eyes narrowed as he looked out the window towards arcs of electricity in the distance and two points of gathering energy, then he clapped his hands together. _**JADE!! JADE, IF YOU CAN HEAR ME, DO NOT TRY ANYTHING RASH!! CLOSE YOUR EYES AND STOP STRUGGLING!! THERE IS GREAT POWER WITHIN YOU—JUST FOCUS IT HOWEVER YOU NEED TO AND RELEASE IT!!**_

"D-ad…" Jade's eyes narrowed, before her eyes closed and she began to focus, and suddenly she felt a subtle, gentle energy nearby, and she realized, that if she strengthened it… Her eyes flew wide open and she erupted into the air in a blast of energy and slammed into Optimus's chestplate harmlessly, absorbing in. His armor became sleeker and gained gold trim, refining itself into a more intricate pattern, and Megatron seemed shocked. "…But Denver said that ability took centuries to perform!" He noted. "Apparently your Denver… doesn't know what he's talking about." Optimus and Jade chorused before his left arm threw out and a blade of energy formed.

"Kid!" Jetfire called, the two transformers flying to her side. "You'll turn against them one of these days…I'll make sure of it. You'll be there to make their deaths hurt." Trish's eyes flattened into a glare. "I don't care if you're a midget kid…I'm not going to be controlled by anyone but ME!" she screamed, her eyes brightening to become entirely bright red glowing orbs. It was Kyle's turn to reel in pain. He fought back. "You bitch!"

Optimus was wailing hard on Megatron, who was in shock and being overpowered despite his united force with Denver. "What the heck is going on—how could that half-evolved reject have so much power?!" The Decepticon leader snapped, before the Autobot leader sent him crashing into a tower.

"CYCLONIS!" Sei-Long screamed, "IT'S TIME!" the helicopter transformer showed up behind her, cackling with joy. "It's time to show you Autoscum who's BOSS!" Sei-Long became a long stream of yellow energy, slamming into Cyclonis's chest and giving the silver and gold Decepticon more shuriken style blades and sharpened the angles of his armor. Adrian looked at the display in horror. "Welcome to your demise, half-bake!!" a stream of yellow energy shot from the Decepticon's wings, aimed straight at Adrian.

The blades on Megatron's wrists began to pulse violently with violet energy and he sneered as it ran up his arms. "Well, Prime, incomplete or not, it seems I'm going to have to treat it as an equal force to my own! PREPARE TO DIE!!" He made several violent slashing motions, forming several violet lines in the air, and suddenly they all erupted and slammed into Optimus at once, cutting through him as he cried out in pain.

"Hey old man!" Damien stood in alarm as suddenly a girl stepped from the corner of his cell, sneering. She had long curly blonde hair tied in a pink ribbon, blue eyes, and was dressed in a pink and white cheerleading uniform. "ANNA!!" He stepped back and put himself between her and his children, who were sitting up and rubbing their eyes sleepily. "Daddy?" Ruby asked, holding Salem, and he froze then turned to the door. "HEEY!! HEY!!" He yelled, "SECURITY BREACH!" He yelled, but no Autobot answered. "They can't hear you. It's time for us to go, Old Man. The master wants you back." She sneered as pink energy began to flare out. "NO!! RUBY, TALC, RUN—"

The yellow energy was countered by a flare of blue, Hotshot—who had leapt to stop the attack and put himself between Adrian and the blast—getting hit by the blue stream of energy created by Adrian. "WHAT?!" chorused Cyclonis/Sei-Long. "How is that possible?!" Hotshot stood before them with blue flames framing the yellow of his chest plate, legs and arms, a blue metal faceplate covering his mouth. "I give you five seconds to start runnin' before we kick your ass!" Hotshot/Adrian called, electricity flaring from his fingers and lashing out at Cyclonis/Sei-Long.

"You're only a half-breed! You shouldn't have this control!" Kyle cried out, lashing at Trish blindly. She zipped away, her eyes not changing and the mental attacks not halting. Kyle now was hunched over, clutching at his head in a vain attempt to get her out of it. "You're messing with the wrong girl, pipsqueak," she growled, Jetfire's hand wrapping around her. "SNAP OUT OF IT, KID!"

"It seems your incomplete little object isn't that tough—just a temporary boost of power." Megatron said as Optimus grunted and fought to sit up, then his optics narrowed, then he fought to his feet, the energy blade forming again. "We won't back down now… The boy has more experience… but where did you meet him?!" Optimus asked. "What a funny little question. I'd rather like to know myself, but when the five of them arrived and offered to ally themselves with us Decepticons and showed us what they could do—how was I supposed to resist?" Megatron sneered. "I see… then…" The blade's energy suddenly increased violently and he erupted forward as six wings of energy formed along his back. "What—" Megatron began. "THE ONE WITH THE TEMPORARY BURST… IS YOU!!" Optimus/Jade yelled, before they passed by Megatron, skidding past him. "…You must be joking. You didn't even hit me—" The Decepticon began, then he froze in alarm as flares of energy erupted all over his body, which suddenly cut open. "…We hit you. You just weren't fast enough to see it." The other said as he wavered and collapsed, face-planting into the ground as a flare of purple energy hit the ground, Denver clutching his body, which had similar cuts on it, and gasping violently. "You…!" He snarled, turning, as Jade ejected out onto Optimus's shoulder. "DENVER!!" rang out as Tidal Wave landed, a pink and white clad girl on his shoulder jumping down. "…Anna, I don't need your help! You have a mission!" He argued. She just grinned. "Mission accomplished! The old man and the two little brats have been taken to our Master when Tidal Wave here was keeping the Autobot guarding him busy!" She said, and Jade froze. "You don't mean—" She began. "Oh, right, you're related, aren't you… Oh, I'm so sorry... NOT!!" She said in a snotty manner, and Jade's energy erupted up again and she erupted towards them with a yell—before the pink energy engulfed the two Decepticons, Denver, and Anna—and with a flare all of them were gone, and Jade immediately took off running towards the Autobot ship. "Jade, wait up!" Optimus went after.

Jetfire's fingers tightening around her body drew away Trish's attention, freeing Kyle. "You…this will not be the end!" he screeched. "They want us to retreat…" Sei-Long pouted, she and Cyclonis making a break for it. They passed Kyle, who grabbed hold of one of Cyclonis's blades and they all disappeared, Hotshot and Adrian separating as they approached Jetfire. Trish's eyes sank closed, she sagging a little against Jetfire's hand. Genesis coming up behind them. "The other Decepticons left. We should find Optimus." Jetfire nodded, looking at the human in his palm.

"I'm sorry, sir… There was nothing I could do…" Hoist huffed as Red Alert was tending his side. "So they took not only Jade's father, but her siblings as well?" Blurr asked. "And the… cat…" was the huffed reply. "Oh, great, we really give a damn about the cat—" Blurr immediately shut himself up at Trish's murderous look, "Uh…" His optics suddenly widened as he did a super-fake tone of alarm. "Oh, no, not the _cat_…!"

"They. Are. Dead," Trish growled. "We'll get them back," Adrian soothed, "all of them."

A dark haired teen with bright violet eyes looked down at the black cat looking up at him with a puzzled look. Suddenly, he knelt and picked it up, cuddling it and crying "Aw you so KAWAAAIII! I could just cuddle you and hug you and keep you foreeeeever!" Salem meowed confusedly but didn't scratch him like he did with most people that picked him up he didn't know. This human seemed to mean well…mostly.

"Jade… I'm so sorry." Optimus told her, but she was silent, crouched in the cell and holding Ruby's stuffed bunny in her arms as her hair fell into her eyes. "…It's not your fault. Don't worry. The twerps are with my father—he won't let anything happen to them. However… I'm getting them back. I'm not going to stop until I rip that goddamn little bitch a new one and get them all back… Nobody… and I mean _**NOBODY**_ messes with _**MY**_ family!" She turned, and he nodded. "…I'll do what I can to help."

Kyle rubbed his temples, sitting on a small couch by Sei-Long. They were in the Decepticon's ship, awaiting orders from Megatron and Denver. "That bitch…she used my own attack against me! She shouldn't have been able to do that!" Sei-Long nodded. "Lightning boy was pretty cute though. I can't wait to make him scream," she said, gazing off dreamily as her hands polished two katanas.

As Sei-Long was doing that, however, instead of polishing swords—Anna was polishing her fingernails. "Oof—I think those little brats scuffed my edge! I have to rub them all down again!" She whined. "You have a hair out of place." Demolisher said (though he didn't really know or care, what came next was funny). "WHAT?! WHERE?! OH MUH GAWD!! NO!!" She screamed, and immediately began to attack her hair with a fine-tooth comb before she flipped, hands shaking wildly as she was already in violent tears before she promptly ran into the bathroom, where the sounds of a shower began. "She's gonna wash her hair ten times now, condition it ten times, and brush it for two hours straight. Gets her out of _our_ hair." Demolisher explained to a confused-looking Wheeljack. "…Thank god." Was all the former Autobot said dully.

The dark haired man, Blaine, bounced in, a disgruntled Salem in his arms. "I gotta kitty! Yaaaay! Yay for kitties!" Sei-Long and Kyle both sweatdropped, looking at him with flat eyes. "Are you sure you're straight?" Sei-Long asked. It was a long running question of Blaine's sexuality. "Yes, I'm straight!" he said, holding Salem up by his face. "See? My pretty friend Salem even agrees with me, don'tcha Salem?" the cat's whole body bobbed up and down as Blaine moved him.

Denver suddenly walked in silently, bandaged up and scowling as he wiped his face silently. "…How humiliating to think I was defeated by a freshly evolved brat… ME, when I'm the oldest of all of us, not to mention…" He faded, eyes going towards the Decepticons before he promptly blasted them out of the room and fused the doors shut, turning, "…our master's most loyal follower. Megatron is something impressive, but he's not the same as merging with Unicron. You feel like a _god_ when that happens—but then, you half-bit less ranked followers wouldn't know anything about _that_." He sneered, arms crossing, then he walked into the bathroom, dragging out Anna with a cry before she could get undressed to get in the shower, "…Anna, did you send the old guy to Master Unicron?" He asked. "Yes, but not the children. Tidal Wave thinks I destroyed the old guy to get them and he immediately took them to Megatron." She said. "Yes, I saw that—but don't worry. We'll send them to him in time." Denver sneered, taking his chin.

"So what do we do now, Denver? Do we get to go after the brats again? I call the blue haired one if we do!" Sei-Long cried in delight. "Oh, you guys went after them today?" Blaine asked, settling the jumbled Salem in his arms, petting him absently. Kyle remained silent.

"…They're evolving and imprinting far earlier than I've ever known. Yes. We have to take them away from the Autobots now before their Sparks entirely imprint on them and they won't be able to merge with anybody else. We have to take them now or else Lord Unicron will be very displeased with us… But they know who we are…" Suddenly he sneered, turning to Blaine as he was playing with the kitty, his eyes narrowing, "…After all, it's a succeed or die mission…"

Blaine looked up, confused. "What?"

"Optimus, there's something off to the left of the ship!" Trish cried, running into the room. She'd just been preparing for a quick nap when she'd looked out the window and seen the human-sized pod floating past. Genesis, who had been the closest to the window anyway, looked in the general direction. "She's right, sir. It's a pod like the one Jade's father was in." Adrian came to stand beside him, looking out at it. Hotshot and Jetfire followed.

"Bring it in. I'm sure this is a trick, but it's better to be sure…" Optimus said, and soon enough the pod was opening. "Oh my god, it's an emo goth boy with… AHH!?" Jade stepped back. "What is it?" Hoist asked, preparing to go on the defensive, and she crouched, then turned, "Trish, LOOK!!" She grinned, holding up Salem, who gave a confused 'Meow'? Apparently he had never been so lost in his long furry life.

"SALEM!" she cried happily and glomped the kitty, giving the poor cat almost as bad a time as he'd had with the emo boy. "WHO THE HELL ARE YOU AND WHY DO YOU HAVE MY CAT?!" she screeched at the boy, who held up his hands defensively. "I didn't take him! I was just sent to return him!" She flatline stared at him, he blinking. "He's one of them. I know it." she snuggled Salem, Adrian grinning and petting the cat before turning to the emo kid. "Aw…don't shoot the messenger! I just brought him back!"

Jade slowly stepped up, collared him, and put her face right into his so his nose was a quarter of an inch from her own, eyes narrowing as she glared into his, then she—still gripping his collar—pushed him away at arm's length. "We have nothing to worry about, people! He's a pushover! I can just tell! And he's got an oddly innocent light in his eyes!" She said, yanking him into a headlock and pointing at them, "See—tossing him around like a rag-doll and nothing. Not even a squawk of protest. Isn't that right, you little push-over?" She asked dully, ruffling his hair.

"Heh, yeah!" he said cheerfully. "I'm Blaine, by the way." He gave a cheerful grin, waving at them all. "Great…" Trish sighed. Adrian shrugged, looking around then getting a huge grin on his face, leaping for the closest electrical socket. "Adrian, no. Down."

"…Oh, boy. It's like Sideswipe. Only… worse." Hotshot noted dully as Jade grinned. "Well, Blaine, I'm your push-over slave bitch master now, hear me? If you are one of them—not any more! And first off, you're going to tell me _**everything**_ you know about your former companions or you can't pet the kitty for a week!" She said. "Jade…!" Optimus argued. "Shut up, I'm forcing a new ally onto us and he doesn't seem to care too damn much." Was the dull reply.

"Awww…okay…" Blaine said, sniffling. "Anna's the one you want to kill for taking your siblings. She's a drama queen and if you tell her even a hair is out of place, she freaks out and showers, conditions her hair and brush it for like two hours just to get it right again. Sei-Long has a problem with pretty people and is obsessed with making them scream. She hates ugly people and girls. Kyle is a sadistic little bastard…yeah." He held his arms out for Salem, giving Trish a pathetic puppy dog look. She hissed and batted at his hand, holding Salem close to her and glaring at him.

"Trish, be reasonable, share the kitty with my new push-over slave bitch. He's being cooperative and that's more than you people can say about even me. I'm not saying to GIVE him the cat, just let him pet and cuddle a little." Jade said, shrugging and patting Blaine's head. "…Why do I get the feeling she has a whole series of 'pushover slave bitches' back on earth somewhere that we don't know about…?" Blurr grumbled.

Trish flatlined then stepped closer, letting Blaine pet the kitty. He grinned contentedly, petting Salem's head and almost purring in contentment. "She does," Adrian replied to Blurr's question, sighing. "What's the plan from here, Optimus?" he asked, looking to the Autobot commander.

"…Hm. This is an… interesting new development, to say the least. But our priority is to take back the children and Jade's father. I will first try to send a negotiation transmission to Megatron and see if I can't get him to give up the kids without a fight. If not—we're going to plan a secret assault on the Decepticon's headquarters. We can't let Ruby and Talc stay in their hands—especially with these dangerous new enemies to think about. However—for safety reasons, Blaine will not be allowed to be in the room during either the recording of the transmission or the probably strategy meeting that will ensue. Err… Blurr, could you keep an eye on him in the meantime, then?" Optimus asked, and the racer looked like he'd just gotten slapped across the face. "ME?! Look after… _**that**_?! Do I _**look**_ like a babysitter for… I don't even know what to call him!!" Blurr pointed in alarm.

"I'll let him play with Salem…." Trish said, grumbling and handing over the cat. Blaine looked like he was in Seventh Heaven, taking Salem and cuddling him close then glomping Trish, causing the woman to freeze before he pulled away, going back to cuddling the cat. "…Okay…that was creepy…"

"Blurr, please—I can trust you. I know that. Besides—I'm afraid that if I put him with Sideswipe that behavior will catch on." Optimus added behind a hand in a low tone, and the racer sighed, head bowing. "Yes, sir… But you better not stick me with him for everything!" He added dully, arms crossing. "…Jade, perhaps you had best not go into the negotiations, either." Optimus said. "I _**know**_ I shouldn't. I'd only screw up your best attempt. Don't worry—I'll help Blurr keep an eye on el gato amore over there." she waved a hand dully. "Thank you for understanding, Jade." He said. "Uh-huh." Was the uber dull reply as she just waved her hand again.

Trish and Adrian followed the Autobots into the other room.

Blurr was silent, looking dully at Blaine as he was hugging and snuggling Salem, then at Jade, who seemed to be moping in a corner, then slapped his metal palm to his forehead and turned away, grumbling, "Primus… look what I've been lowered to. A babysitter and a security guard all at once… And to think—last night I was shooting any Decepticon in my way… If this keeps up then the only thing I'm probably gonna shoot is my own hardware out of my head…"

"I'm going to shoot the bastard. GIMME a plasma blaster! I'm gonna fucking shoot his face in and bash his brains into the concrete then rip his intestines from his stomach and feed them to Rottweilers!!" Trish ranted, the sliding doors opening to the room Jade, Blaine and Blurr were in. "That fucking BASTARD!" she slammed down her fists into a control panel then leapt back, giving a small squeak of pain. "FUCKING DAMN IT!"

"…I take it didn't go well?" Jade stood, and Optimus sighed. "I'm sorry. He won't listen to reason. But don't worry. We'll get them back by force if Megatron won't give them up peacefully. Blurr, how did he do?" He asked in a low tone. "You know how they say that some humans like members of their own sex? I think he's one of those." Was the dull reply. "_**BLURR!!**_" was the shocked hissed reply. "Hehehe—he's got a point but the boy is straight. I know cuz I very purposely testing it out of curiosity every way I could think of. See?" Jade walked right over to Blaine and pulled his head directly into her chest.

"OOOH! BOOBS!" he cheered, reaching up and groping them cheerfully, drooling contently. Trish burst out laughing, covering her mouth with her hand, "Oh wow…I think he's straight!" Adrian sighed. "Wish I was that lucky with a woman…" he pouted.

Optimus just flatlined as Jade grinned and patted Blaine's head. "Good boy. So no fears, he's straight! Adrian will not man-rape him!" She said. "…Don't you mean the other way around?" The boy said dully. "Oh, no, this guy is too puny for anything like that to happen. He cries if you flick his earlobe—he's pathetic. But funny. However, you, sometimes, I have my most sincere doubts about your door swinging both ways, if you get my meaning." She grinned and Adrian sulked.

"He's straight," Trish flatlined. "Truuuust me." Salem meowed, twining through her legs and begging to be picked up. She knelt and did so. "Good to see you survived." She smiled, Eskimo kissing him then settling him in her arms, scratching his head just behind his ears. He purred contently.

Optimus promptly shoved the thought into the back of his mind not to permit Jade to keep another… whatever she had called them. He was getting too old for this. "Say, sir, you and Hotshot said you _merged_ with Jade and Adrian?" Sideswipe asked. "Uh… yeah, we did." Hotshot noted. "What was that like?" both Autobots hit a blank. "It's… strange…" Optimus noted after a moment. "It's odd—because your consciousness kind've melts and sinks into theirs and suddenly it's WHOOSHBAMZAZAZING!!" Jade grabbed her head, then she shrugged, "Then you see everything they see and feel whatever they feel, and your thoughts are oddly unified, but at the same time it's like _**SUGARRUSHFROMFRICKIN'HELL!!**_" She shrieked the last word, bristling, then she immediately smoothed down, "There's just too much energy to contain, so you just have to let it keep seeping out… It's extremely weird—at least, on my end it was." She said.

"You guys merged?" Trish said, looking at the two. "Hmm…strange. I just blanked out for a few minutes…." Jetfire sighed. Obviously, she didn't remember going completely berserk on the little kid. "Yeah, it was really weird…" Adrian nodded.

"…It apparently was different for you. It was like… attaching ten minicons to myself." Optimus said. "Ahhh. Wow. _That_ would be a rush." Hoist noted. "But the power was… different from a Minicon's. Rather than supplementing my power… a strange power came and completely bonded with my own, creating a new power." Optimus said. "And it seems that they've 'evolved'. Because they didn't need the helmets anymore. Whatever 'evolving' means. Hey, you, have you 'evolved' yet?" Blurr demanded dryly, turning his head to Blaine, who was depressed from lack of kitty-ness.

"Yesh…" he puppy dog eyed Trish, who glared him down but let him pet the cat in her arms. "Touch my boobs and I'll drop kick you across the room."

"…Red Alert, probably you should do a scan on the children and discover what it means to evo—" Optimus paused, an optic narrowing as if his eyebrow was raising as he began to look around. "…What is it, Optimus?" Jade asked. "…Where are the other kids? I haven't seen them for a long time." He noted. "…Oh my god. Good question." Jade noted, taking her chin, "…I think I'll say I'll go look for them and actually go lodge myself in my closet to avoid a potentially quarter-of-a-day long annoying scan!" She ran towards the door. Bland look after her.

"Agreed," Trish replied, grinning and dragging Salem, Blaine in toe, with her as she too ran for cover. Billy was pigging out in the kitchen (if they even had one), Alexis and the others watching a movie in an adjoining room.

"…OH, WAIT!! HERE THEY ARE!!" Hotshot called and Optimus's gaze flatlined on Jade's back, halting her and she paused, looking back, then coughed into a fist. "…All right, all right… Blaine, get scanned so they can check out this whole evolution thing." She commanded dully, arms crossing.

Blaine nodded, begrudgely leaving petting Salem to follow Red Alert to get scanned. Trish hid behind Genesis's leg, hoping the rogue wouldn't make her do the scan.

"…Jade, it's best for Red Alert to get a scan on the _developing_ evolution as well." Optimus said—he knew Jade hated it, but he didn't want to charge into this half-informed. "All right… TAKE ADRIAN!!" She pushed him to Red Alert and promptly fled the room, screaming, "THOU SHALT NOT PROBE THY NEIGHBOR!!"

"I'm a neighbor tooooooo!!" Adrian whined, running after her. "NO WAY IN HELL AM I DOIN' IT!!" Trish cried, Genesis getting a sympathetic look on his face If that was even possible and picked her up. "I hate you…" she muttered, clutching Salem for dear life.

At the door, Jade promptly turned and slammed her palm into Adrian's forehead and promptly knocked him out. "Thank you martial arts! TAKE HIM!!" She promptly slammed the door behind her as fast as the button would allow her to do so. "…Great. More human brain damage for me to try to repair." Red Alert grumbled, picking up Adrian, then he turned to Optimus, who nodded. "…I'll bring her in—" He began, and the door opened. "…You're not gonna give up until you get all of us, are you?" She asked. He shook his head, and she sighed. "FINE. Let's get it OVER WITH. Demonic raging elf-eared asshole." She added the last sentence under her breath.

Trish snoozed away contently, Salem nuzzled up next to her on the examining table. 12 hours of scanning wore a person out. "Done," Red Alert said, though she didn't hear it. She was dead to the world.

"Ah… That took twice as long as normal—" Jade began to moodily rant, then she turned to Blaine and promptly crossed her arms, "Hey, you—my shoulders are stiff and demand a rub-down." She said and he promptly came over and began to do so and she smirked to herself, silencing. However, Red Alert led Optimus aside. "What is it, Red Alert?" He asked. "…Don't let that pushover attitude fool you. Blaine has enough power to run three high-grade proton cannons with no trouble. However… What really worries me is that it seems that females with this power… over quadruple the power of a male with the ability. See the difference in this scan?" Red Alert showed Optimus, whose optics narrowed silently as he investigated them. "…Why do you think that is?" He asked. "I have no idea…" He said.

"Nghh?" Trish muttered, waking up at last. "Oh…are we done yet?" she sat up. "Yep. Good to go." She looked up at Optimus with his narrowed optics. "Whatsa matter?" she asked.

"Er… it's nothing. Thank you all for humoring me. If you wish—go to bed, and we will tell you about the mission's basics tomorrow. You all must still be groggy from the rada—" He looked over in time to see Adrian stupendously topple from his perch and forced Hotshot to scramble and catch him like a dropped set of keys, letting out a 'phew' of relief when he managed to catch the teenager unharmed—a snore was the only reply.

Salem meowed. Trish gave a small snort. "Haha…" then she too promptly fell over and passed out again as well. "I'll take her," Genesis said, picking her up gently and walking out. Salem trotted along behind.

"…Ah, I don't have a room." Blaine noted blankly, and Jade stood, "…I suppose you can have Ruby and Talc's. When we get them back, I suppose they can sleep in my room with me. C'mon, plush-toy boy, I'll show you where it is—ring, ding, ding, hello, we need an elevator." She said dully, making a motion like she was pushing a button repeatedly, and quickly Sideswipe came over and obliged. "THANK YOU!" She grinned before she grabbed Blaine's shirt and dragged him off. "…He's like a puppy." Sideswipe noted. "Shut up and go fix the radar." Blurr said. "SIR!!" off he ran.

Foxx: YAY! Gory bloody goodness! And yes, I am a violent person so MEEEEEEH P. (My father told me that after reading this….0.0)

Jetfire: :optic twitches:

Foxx: Yeah, can it.

Jetfire: ….I didn't say anything…

Ōkami: By the way—we're sorry if we insulted any cheerleaders with this. Cheerleaders aren't bad if they're on reading transformers fanfiction. Not at all—I have friends who are cheerleaders and they're not bad.

Optimus: What about the apology?

Ōkami: …:Blank look, then she quickly turns away in realization: Oh, uh… about that…

Optimus: ŌKAMI…

Ōkami: OKAY, OKAY, we're sorry for not updating! But as our readers know I don't have internet and we live uber-far apart and it's snowed a lot lately—we've been unable to see each other since _New Years!!_ Forgive our inability to post!! :Bows so violently and rapidly she snaps her spine: X :Falls over:

Optimus: …Oh boy. RED ALERT!!

Foxx: T.T' Wow…however, totally true. Sorry. ' We live in different cities so it's kinda hard with gas prices being as stupid as they are and weekends mysteriously getting filled up at the last minute…:glowers at family: yeah…so Gomen Nasai, gomen nasai, gomen nasai. :bows but not so violently: You weird freakish person…- -'

Hotshot: Coming from you, I am forced to point out the irony in that statement...

Foxx: ) yep! I'm just full of ironic goodness!

Ōkami: X Right… fun… oof… can't… sit.. Anyway, today's quiz question… Demolisher's Minicon in Armada possesses the same name as a character from the new movie. What's his name? (I know, dull question, but I can't think of a better one at the moment).

Foxx: …:draws a blank for a long moment then the great dawn of recognition finally hits her…twenty minutes later…: OH! Okay…' blonde moment! Posty posty so we can write more!! Please? :bats eyelashes to reader: You'll be rewarded!

Ōkami: Also, vote for your fav. Character for the heck of it!! (Votes for Blaine yay)

Foxx: We'll post the results in the next chapter and keep tabs on them so please vote! Ciao!


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